HB3092

HB3092 raises from three miles to five miles the maximum length of a qualifying transmission line connecting an electric utility’s existing transmission facilities to a load-serving substation or metering point without amending its certificate of public convenience and necessity. That certificate is a state utility authorization; this is an exception to amending it, not a general exemption from every construction or safety requirement. Final law.

The law retains two important conditions: every landowner whose property is directly affected, as determined under Public Utility Commission rules, must give written consent, and all rights-of-way needed for construction must have been purchased. A right-of-way supplies the property rights needed to place the line. Merely being five miles or shorter is not enough.

The separate limit for lines connecting to a generation substation or metering point remains two miles. The five-mile change concerns connections serving electricity demand, not every connection serving a power generator.

The governor signed June 20, 2025; the law took effect September 1, 2025. Official history.

Implementation context: The PUC’s 2026 implementing order confirms that the statutory exemption was already effective and does not expand eminent-domain authority. The current certification rule reflects five miles and retains reporting and commission oversight. “Directly affected” is not necessarily limited to land physically crossed by the line: the notice rule also addresses nearby habitable structures and specified substation neighbors. A separate rule provision for lines no longer than one mile has a narrower consent condition; HB3092’s new five-mile limit should not be confused with that provision.