(a) The Commission shall have exclusive original supervision and regulation of all public utilities and also over their rates, property rights, equipment, facilities, service territories and franchises so far as may be necessary for the purpose of carrying out the provisions of this title. Such regulation shall include the regulation of the rates, terms and conditions for any attachment (except by a governmental agency insofar as it is acting on behalf of the public health, safety or welfare) to any pole, duct, conduit, right-of-way or other facility of any public utility, and, in so regulating, the Commission shall consider the interests of subscribers, if any, of the entity attaching to the public utility's facility, as well as the interests of the consumer of the public utility service.
(b) Further, the Commission shall have exclusive original jurisdiction and regulation of every cable television system outside the boundaries of incorporated municipalities which on June 28, 1974, have the power either express or implied under their charters to grant franchises for a cable system, and the Commission shall have supervision and review jurisdiction and regulation over any action taken by incorporated municipalities, which on June 28, 1974, have the power either express or implied under their charters to grant franchises for a cable system, with respect to the regulation of cable television systems, including the grant of or failure to grant franchises for a cable system by such municipality or the terms of any franchise now or hereafter granted for a cable system by such a municipality or the conduct of any franchisee holding a franchise from such a municipality, provided that the Commission's original and review jurisdiction and regulation shall be conducted solely in accordance with the provisions of subchapter VI of this chapter.
(c) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, in the exercise of supervision and regulation over public utilities that provide telecommunications services, the Commission:
(1) Shall forbear from regulating the rates, terms, and conditions of competitive retail communications services; and
(2) Shall not investigate or adjudicate retail customer complaints for services except complaints related to the adequate provisioning of basic services.
(d) (1) In the exercise of supervision and regulation over public utilities other than those that provide telecommunications services, the Commission may, upon application or on its own motion, after notice and hearing, forbear from (“deregulate”) in whole or in part, its supervision and regulation over some or all public utility products or services and over some or all public utilities where the Commission determines that a competitive market exists for such products and services and where the Commission finds that such deregulation will be in the public interest.
(2) Any application under this subsection shall, at a minimum, include specific proposal or proposals, supporting statements or testimony, an analysis of the effects on the utility's regulated customers and an implementation plan. The application shall affirmatively establish that the deregulation being considered will not adversely affect the availability, cost or quality of utility services provided to the utility's regulated customers.
(3) The Commission shall approve or disapprove any such deregulation applications within 180 days after submission thereof, except that, for good cause found, the Commission may enter an order extending this period for an additional 90 days.
(4) The Commission shall determine how a public utility shall account for such deregulated products or services (including cost allocations where found to be appropriate) so as to ensure that the utility's regulated customers neither benefit unduly from nor unduly provide a subsidy to the deregulated products or services; provided, that such accounting determination shall not thereafter be changed by the Commission except for good cause shown.
(5) In connection with any application under this subsection for forbearance from Commission supervision and regulation, the Commission shall find, among other relevant things, the following:
a. Whether a competitive market exists for the particular utility product or service being requested to be wholly or partly deregulated. Conditions and factors to be considered may include, but are not limited to, the following:
1. The existing or prospective market power of the utility with respect to its products or services for which deregulation is sought; and
2. If there are significant entry or exit costs or other barriers to potential competitors; and
3. If there is a reasonable basis to expect that prices of wholly or partly deregulated products or services will reflect the incremental costs of supply;
b. Whether any safeguards are necessary to prevent a material adverse effect on utility service quality or rate levels;
c. Whether or not an option to remain under the Commission's supervision and regulation should be made available for customers whose utility products and services would be deregulated by the proposal;
d. Whether or not the public utility shall unbundle each service or function on which a service depends to its fundamental elements and shall make those elements separately available to any customer whose utility service is being deregulated by the proposal under terms and conditions, including price, that are the same or comparable to those used by the public utility in providing its own service. The public utility shall not unreasonably discriminate between affiliated and unaffiliated providers of services in offering unbundled features, functions and capabilities; and
e. Whether the Commission should forbear from regulating competing providers of such products or services.
(6) Where the Commission has made a determination to forbear from its supervision and regulation under this section, the Commission shall have the ongoing right to review, examine and audit the books and records of the applicable utility, and the relevant books and records of any relevant nonregulated affiliate. This right shall be the same as the Commission's right of access to inspection and examination of the utility's regulated books, accounts and records and appropriate safeguards regarding disclosure of confidential information shall be provided.
(7) Thirty months after any approval of forbearance from regulation hereunder, the utility shall file a report with the Commission summarizing its activities for that wholly or partly deregulated activity during its first 24 months of operation. Such report shall, at a minimum, address the criteria that the Commission deemed relevant in approving the request to deregulate such product or service. The report shall also describe the service provider's investment during the previous 24 months. Such report shall also describe the level of planned investment over the next 5 years. The Commission may require that similar reports be submitted biannually thereafter.
(8) The Commission, after notice and hearing, may prospectively revoke or reverse any forbearance of regulation granted hereunder where it finds that doing so is in the public interest. Where the Commission revokes or reverses a prior decision made under paragraph (d)(1) of this section, the Commission shall determine that the current rates for the related products or services are just and reasonable or shall establish new rates that are just and reasonable.
(9) This subsection shall not apply to a telecommunications service provider for so long as such provider is governed under the provisions of subchapter VII-A, Chapter 1 of this title.
(e) (1) In the exercise of supervision and regulation over public utilities, the Commission may, upon application or on its own motion, after notice and hearing, alter, in whole or in part, its supervision and regulation over some or all public utility products or services and over some or all public utilities to the extent necessary to promote and sustain adequate service at just and reasonable rates where the Commission determines that alternatives to supervision and regulation including the competitive provision of such products and services are in the public interest. Alternatives include, but are not limited to, incentive regulation, earnings sharing, categorization of services for the purposes of pricing, price caps, price indexing, ranges of authorized returns and different returns for different services. The Commission is specifically authorized to depart from rate base, rate of return regulation when it is in the public interest and when such departure is found to promote just and reasonable rates.
(2) Any application under this subsection shall, at a minimum, include specific proposal or proposals, supporting statements or testimony, an analysis of the effects on the utility's regulated services provided to its customers and an implementation plan. The application shall affirmatively establish that the alteration of regulation will not adversely affect the availability, cost or quality of the regulated utility services provided to the utility's customers.
(3) The Commission shall approve or disapprove any such requests for alternative supervision and regulation within 180 days after submission thereof, except that, for good cause found, the Commission may enter an order extending this period for an additional 90 days.
(4) The Commission shall determine how a public utility shall account for such alternatives (including cost allocations where found to be appropriate) so as to ensure that public utility customers to which such alternatives are not made available neither benefit unduly from nor unduly provide a subsidy to public utility customers to whom such alternatives are made available; provided, that such accounting determination shall not thereafter be changed by the Commission except for good cause shown.
(5) The Commission, after notice and hearing, may prospectively revoke or reverse any alternative form of regulation granted hereunder where it finds that doing so is in the public interest. Where the Commission revokes or reverses a prior decision made under paragraph (e)(1) of this section, the Commission shall determine that the current rates for the related products or services are just and reasonable or shall establish new rates that are just and reasonable.
(6) This subsection shall not apply to a telecommunications service provider for so long as such provider is governed by the provisions of subchapter VII-A, Chapter 1 of this title.