00HOUSE BILL NO. 95                                                                                                       
01 "An Act relating to preferential utility rates for public institutional                                                 
02 telecommunications users; and providing for an effective date."                                                         
03 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA:                                                                
04    * Section 1.  AS 42.05.301 is amended to read:                                                                       
05  Sec. 42.05.301.  DISCRIMINATION IN SERVICE.  Except as provided in                                                    
06 AS 42.05.306 and 42.05.308, a public utility may not, as to service, make or grant an                                 
07 unreasonable preference or advantage to any person or subject any person to an                                          
08 unreasonable prejudice or disadvantage. A public utility may not establish or maintain                                  
09 or provide an unreasonable difference as to service, either as between localities or as                                 
10 between classes of service, but nothing in this section prohibits the establishment of                                  
11 reasonable classifications of service or requires unreasonable investment in facilities.                                
12    * Sec. 2.  AS 42.05 is amended by adding a new section to read:                                                      
13  Sec. 42.05.308.  PUBLIC INSTITUTION ACCESS TO                                                                         
14 TELECOMMUNICATIONS SERVICES.  (a)  The commission shall adopt regulations                                               

01 to                                                                                                                      
02   (1)  enhance, to the extent technically feasible and economically                                                    
03 reasonable, the availability to public institutional telecommunications users of                                        
04 telecommunications services and information services; and                                                               
05   (2)  require telecommunications utilities to offer telecommunications and                                            
06 information services at preferential rates to public institutional telecommunications                                   
07 users.                                                                                                                  
08  (b)  A public institutional telecommunications user that receives services at a                                       
09 preferential rate under this section may not resell the services and may not aggregate                                  
10 telecommunications services.                                                                                            
11 (c)  In this section,                                                                                                 
12   (1)  "preferential rate" means the lowest rate that is consistent with                                               
13 recovering the long-run incremental cost or out-of-pocket cost, whichever is less, to                                   
14 telecommunications networks in offering services that are technically similar to those                                  
15 offered to a public institutional telecommunications user under this section;  a                                        
16 preferential rate may not be more than the directly attributable cost of the service and                                
17 may not contain a contribution to cover the joint or common costs of the provider;                                      
18   (2)  "public institutional telecommunications user" means                                                            
19   (A)  a public school as defined in AS 14.60.010;                                                                    
20   (B) a  public library;                                                                                              
21   (C)  a public broadcast station, including the rural Alaska                                                         
22 television network;                                                                                                     
23   (D)  the University of Alaska.                                                                                      
24    * Sec. 3.  AS 42.05.391(a) is amended to read:                                                                       
25     (a) Except as provided in AS 42.05.306 and 42.05.308, a public utility may                                       
26 not, as to rates, grant an unreasonable preference or advantage to any of its customers                                 
27 or subject a customer to an unreasonable prejudice or disadvantage. A public utility                                    
28 may not establish or maintain an unreasonable difference as to rates, either as between                                 
29 localities or between classes of service. A municipally owned utility may offer uniform                                 
30 or identical rates for a public utility service to customers located in different areas                                 
31 within its certificated service area who receive the same class of service. Any uniform                                 

01 or identical rate shall, upon complaint, be subject to review by the commission and                                     
02 may be set aside if shown to be unreasonable.                                                                           
03    * Sec. 4.  This Act takes effect July 1, 1995.