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2018 Georgia Code 46-5-165 | Car Wreck Lawyer

Link to State of Georgia Official Statute 2018 Georgia Code Annotated (sourced from legal.resource.org)
O.C.G.A. 46-5-165 Case Law from Google Scholar Amendments to OCGA 46-5-165

TITLE 46 PUBLIC UTILITIES AND PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION

Section 5. Telephone Service, 46-5-1 through 46-5-252.

ARTICLE 4 TELECOMMUNICATIONS AND COMPETITION DEVELOPMENT

46-5-165. Alternative regulation of rates, terms, and conditions.

  1. Any Tier 1 local exchange company may elect to have its rates, terms, and conditions for its services determined pursuant to the alternative regulation described in this article, in lieu of other forms of regulation including but not limited to rate of return or rate base monitoring or regulation, upon the filing of notice with the commission and committing to provide basic local exchange services upon reasonable request and to invest $500 million per year for five years to improve and strengthen telecommunications services in Georgia; provided, however, that after the expiration of three years of such investments, the commission shall determine, after notice and opportunity for a Tier 1 local exchange company or other interested parties to be heard, whether such investment commitment should be continued for the remaining two years or whether such commitment should be reduced.
  2. Any Tier 2 local exchange company may elect to have the rates, terms, and conditions for its services determined pursuant to the alternative regulation described in this article upon the filing of notice with the commission and committing to provide basic local exchange services upon reasonable request.
  3. The alternative regulation under this article shall become effective on the date specified by the electing company but in no event sooner than 30 days after such notice is filed with the commission.
  4. On the date a telecommunications company elects the alternative regulation described in this article, all existing rates, terms, and conditions for the services provided by the electing company contained in the then existing tariffs and contracts are deemed just and reasonable.

(Code 1981, §46-5-165, enacted by Ga. L. 1995, p. 886, § 2.)

JUDICIAL DECISIONS

Interim period after electing alternative regulation.

- During the transition period occurring between the date of an incumbent local exchange company's election of alternative regulation and the date alternative regulation became effective, the commission retained its authority to adjust the existing rates of the company so that the rates remained reasonable and just. Georgia Pub. Serv. Comm'n v. ALLTEL Ga. Communications Corp., 227 Ga. App. 382, 489 S.E.2d 350 (1997), aff'd, 270 Ga. 105, 505 S.E.2d 218 (1998).

The Public Service Commission has authority to review rates for no less than 30 days after a notice of election of alternative regulation is filed. ALLTEL Ga. Communications Corp. v. Georgia Pub. Serv. Comm'n, 270 Ga. 105, 505 S.E.2d 218 (1998).

Rule nisi issued by Public Service Commission provided reasonable notice of the Commission's intent to investigate the authorized return on equity of a Tier 2 local exchange company and to adjust its rates prior to its election of alternative regulation. Georgia PSC v. ALLTEL Ga. Communs. Corp., 244 Ga. App. 645, 536 S.E.2d 542 (2000).

Cases Citing O.C.G.A. § 46-5-165

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Alltel Georgia Commc'ns v. Georgia Pub. Serv. Comm'n, 505 S.E.2d 218 (Ga. 1998).

Cited 14 times | Published | Supreme Court of Georgia | Oct 5, 1998 | 270 Ga. 105, 98 Fulton County D. Rep. 3321

...d ALLTEL to apply its over-earnings to reduce its intrastate access rates. ALLTEL filed a petition for judicial review in superior court and contended that, at the moment of election, the artificially high rates under the Plan became locked-in under O.C.G.A. § 46-5-165(d) and that the PSC lost the authority to review its rates....
...[7] ALLTEL contends that the rate lock-in occurs the moment the company files its notice of election of alternative regulation. In reviewing various parts of the statute in isolation, it is unclear whether the rate lock-in occurs on the date the company specifies as the effective date of alternative regulation under OCGA § 46-5-165(c) or on the date the company files its notice of election. However, if we view the statute as a whole to construe all parts of a statute together "to make all its parts harmonize," [8] the issue is easily resolved. The most reasonable reading is that "the date a telecommunications company elects" in OCGA § 46-5-165(d) refers *220 to the date the company specifies as the effective date of alternative regulation under subsection c....
...e lock-in. The PSC's construction is also supported by the principle that a court must "give a sensible and intelligent effect to each part [of a statute]. It is not presumed that the legislature intended that any part would be without meaning." [9] O.C.G.A. § 46-5-165(c) provides at least a 30-day window between the filing of a notice of electing alternative regulation and its effective date....
...Or a company could lock-in rates and avoid any regulation, traditional or alternative, by setting an effective date a year or more past the filing of the notice. For all these reasons, we conclude that the court of appeals was correct in its construction of OCGA § 46-5-165(c) and (d)....
...The majority holds that a telephone company's intrastate access rates are "locked-in," i.e. deemed just and reasonable and no longer subject to traditional Commission regulatory authority, on the date alternative regulation takes effect. Because OCGA § 46-5-165(d) specifically provides that all existing rates, terms, and conditions for services provided by a company electing alternative regulation are deemed just and reasonable on the date a company elects alternative regulation, I respectfully dissent....
...arket-based alternative forms of regulation. OCGA § 45-6-161(a) (2, 3) and (b) (1, *221 5). To elect alternative regulation, the Act requires a local telephone company to file a notice of election of alternative regulation with the Commission. OCGA § 46-5-165(b)....
...es, the court has no authority to place a different construction upon it, but must construe it according to its terms. Diefenderfer v. Pierce, 260 Ga. 426, 396 S.E.2d 227 (1990); Hollowell v. Jove, 247 Ga. 678, 681, 279 S.E.2d 430 (1981). Under OCGA § 46-5-165(d), a company's rates are deemed just and reasonable "on the date a telecommunications company elects the alternative regulation." (Emphasis supplied.) As defined by the Act, the date a company elects alternative regulation is the date the company files a notice of election with the Commission....
...have used such specific language as it did in OCGA § 46-5-166(b), in which rates for basic local exchange services are established as of "the date the local exchange company becomes subject to alternative regulation." Despite the clear language of § 46-5-165(d), the majority holds that a company's rates are deemed just and reasonable on the date alternative regulation becomes effective, thereby violating basic rules of statutory construction precluding courts from placing a different construction upon the terms of an unambiguous statute. See Diefenderfer, supra. The majority refuses to interpret § 46-5-165(d) consistent with its plain language, finding such an interpretation would "eviscerate the PSC's traditional role" and would be inconsistent with the Act's goal of protecting the consumer during the transition to a competitive telecommunications market....
...This analysis fails to recognize that it was the primary intent of the legislature, through passage of the Act, to move away from the Commission's traditional regulatory authority and to rely instead on market forces to establish efficient pricing. See OCGA § 46-5-161(a)(1). Moreover, interpreting § 46-5-165(d) to deem a company's rates just and reasonable on the date it elects alternative regulation does not thwart the legislative purpose of protecting consumers during the transition to a competitive market and does not leave consumers witho...
...ng, or tying arrangements. OCGA § 46-5-169(4). *222 Although, like the majority, I have concerns regarding ALLTEL's retention of overearnings authorized by the Regulatory Plan, I believe the majority errs in refusing to follow the plain language of § 46-5-165(d)....
...NOTES [1] Georgia Public Service Commission v. ALLTEL Georgia Communications Corp., 227 Ga.App. 382, 489 S.E.2d 350 (1997). [2] See OCGA § 46-5-162(10)(B). [3] OCGA § 46-5-160, et seq. [4] OCGA § 46-5-161(a)(1). [5] OCGA § 45-6-161(a) (2, 3) and (b) (1, 5). [6] OCGA § 46-5-165(d). [7] OCGA § 46-5-165(c)....