Bill would require utilities to allow law‑enforcement equipment on poles, shift liability to agencies

The House Utilities Committee held a hearing on House Bill 2109, which would require public utilities — including municipal and cooperative utilities as well as investor‑owned utilities — to enter into pole‑attachment agreements with law‑enforcement agencies that request to attach and operate law‑enforcement equipment on utility poles in the public right‑of‑way.

The bill would require the agreement to identify which poles may carry equipment, describe the equipment, establish safety specifications for attachment, access, operation and removal, and give the utility sole discretion to require that attachments and related work be performed either by the utility or by a contractor approved by the utility. The bill would also allow utilities to assess reasonable fees to recover actual costs but would prohibit charging to “rent” pole space. It would require the requesting law‑enforcement agency to indemnify, defend and hold harmless the utility for claims arising from the attachment and operation and for damages to the utility system caused by the attached equipment. The bill states that a public utility that enters such an agreement would be…