The publisher does not state since when this version applies. Read on 2026-03-04.
Copy read on 2026-11-08 from the Internet Archive's copy of 2026-03-04, because the publisher's site refused Solon's reader. It is not the publisher's own copy. The archived copy it was read from
38:37 Limitation on Purchase, Construction, or Operation of Certain Fossil Fuel Facilities.
I. Except as provided in paragraph II, no municipal electric utility or municipality may, after July 1, 2000, purchase, construct, or operate any fossil fuel plants for the manufacture of electricity and sale to customers beyond the bounds of the municipality.
II. Following consultation with the department of environmental services to adequately address present and future environmental impacts, a municipality or a municipal electric utility may petition the department for specific permission for such acquisition, operation, or construction.
Source. 2000, 293:4, eff. June 21, 2000.
I. In this subdivision:
(a) "Access tariff" means the fee charged on a monthly or annual basis to broadband providers for access to the broadband infrastructure.
(b) [Repealed.]
(c) "Broadband" means the transmission of information, between or among points specified by the user, with or without change in the form or content of the information as sent and received, at rates of transmission greater than or equal to 100 megabits per second download and 20 megabits per second upload or at rates of transmission defined by the Federal Communications Commission as a wireline advanced telecommunications capability as defined by section 706 of the Telecommunications Act of 1996, whichever rates of transmission are greater, irrespective of the network technology used.
(d) "Broadband provider" means any provider of broadband services, except aggregators of broadband services, as defined in section 226 of the 1996 Telecommunications Act.
(e) "Broadband infrastructure" means all equipment and facilities, including all changes, modifications, and expansions to existing facilities, as well as the customer premises equipment used to provide broadband, as defined in subparagraph (c), and any software integral to or related to the operations, support, facilitation, or interconnection of such equipment.
(f) "Broadband service" means the offering of broadband for a fee directly to the public, or to such classes of users as to be effectively available directly to the public, regardless of the facilities used.
(g) "Open network" means any broadband infrastructure which is open to any third party users in a nondiscriminatory manner on a fair and equitable basis using publicly available access tariffs for services.
(h) "Open network interfaces" means the technical and operational means, manners, and methods for any third party access to the broadband infrastructure, which shall be provided on the basis of generally acceptable industry standards available at the time of access.
II. A municipality may use its broadband infrastructure for the purpose of providing an open network and assuring that third party access is available in accordance with current state and federal regulations.
III. If a broadband provider does not respond to a request for information issued pursuant to sections RSA 33:3-g, III and RSA 33:3-g, IV, the locations served by that broadband provider shall be considered unserved unless those locations are served by a broadband provider who responded to that municipality's request for information.
Source. 2006, 225:6, eff. July 31, 2006. 2018, 118:6, 8, July 29, 2018. 2020, 28:3, eff. Sept. 20, 2020. 2023, 173:2, eff. Sept. 26, 2023.
For defraying the cost of acquisition, construction, payment of the interest on any debt incurred, management, maintenance, operation, and repair of broadband infrastructure, or the construction, enlargement, or improvement of such systems, the governing body may establish a scale of rates called access tariffs, may prescribe the manner and the time for the payment of such tariffs, and may change such tariffs when it deems advisable.
Source. 2006, 225:6, eff. July 31, 2006.
I. The funds received from the collection of access tariffs shall be kept as a separate fund to be known as the broadband fund. Such fund shall be allowed to accumulate from year to year, shall not be commingled with town or city tax revenues, and shall not be deemed part of the municipality's general fund accumulated surplus. Such fund may be expended only for the purposes specified in RSA 33:3 and RSA 33-B.
II. Except when a capital reserve fund is established pursuant to paragraph III, all broadband funds shall be held in the custody of the municipal treasurer. Estimates of anticipated revenues and anticipated expenditures from the broadband fund shall be prepared and submitted to the governing body as a special warrant article as set forth in RSA 32, if applicable, and shall be included as part of the municipal budget submitted to the local legislative body for approval. Expenditures shall be within amounts appropriated by the local legislative body.
III. At the option of the local governing body, all or part of any surplus in the broadband fund may be placed in one or more capital reserve funds held in the custody of the trustees of trust funds pursuant to RSA 35:10. If such a reserve fund is created, then the governing body, may expend such funds pursuant to RSA 35:15 without prior approval or appropriation by the local legislative body, but all such expenditures shall be reported to the municipality pursuant to RSA 38:41. This paragraph shall not be construed to prohibit the establishment of other capital reserve funds for any lawful purpose relating to broadband access.
Source. 2006, 225:6, eff. July 31, 2006. 2018, 118:7, eff. July 29, 2018.
The governing body shall annually make a report of the broadband fund to the municipality showing the expenses and income of the fund, and all other material facts. This report shall be published in the annual report of the municipality.
Source. 2006, 225:6, eff. July 31, 2006.