Sec. 181.045. STANDARDS FOR CONSTRUCTION, OPERATION, AND MAINTENANCE OF LINES. (a) A municipal electric utility shall construct, operate, and maintain its transmission lines and distribution lines along highways and at other places in accordance with the national electrical safety code. With regard to clearances, an electric utility that is not a municipal electric utility shall construct, operate, and maintain its transmission lines and distribution lines along highways and at other places in accordance with the national electrical safety code.

(b) Regardless of Subsection (a), an electric utility shall:

(1) use single pole construction for a line along a highway or county road;

(2) construct a transmission line that crosses a highway or road so that the line is at least 22 feet above the surface of the traffic lane; and

(3) construct a line that is above a railroad track or railroad siding so that the line is at least 22 feet above the surface of the track or siding.

(c) Subsection (a) does not apply to a line in a municipality to the extent an ordinance or regulation applying in the municipality provides differently than the national electrical safety code.

(d) In this section, "national electrical safety code" means the National Electrical Safety Code, as published in March 1948 by the National Bureau of Standards, Handbook 30, as revised by Handbook 81, published by the National Bureau of Standards in November 1961.

Acts 1997, 75th Leg., ch. 166, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1997.

Amended by:

Acts 2013, 83rd Leg., R.S., Ch. 77 (S.B. 349), Sec. 2, eff. May 18, 2013.