Tex. Util. Code § 181.045 · Subchapter C. PROVISIONS APPLYING TO ELECTRIC UTILITIES
STANDARDS FOR CONSTRUCTION, OPERATION, AND MAINTENANCE OF LINES.
Text — Current through the 89th 2nd Called Legislative Session, 2025
(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.
Notes and commentary — not statutory text
History
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.
Source of truth
- Edition
- Current through the 89th 2nd Called Legislative Session, 2025
- Official file
- https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/UT/htm/UT.181.htm
- Text hash
- sha256 1a7c8cafa3b389e42ba302103503188f8f0a629b84c06de6933a71459247c3cf
- Composed by
- compose_tx.py 2026-10-05: the Legislative Council's chapter files read in document order; verify_tx.py's independent reading (lxml DOM walk) agrees character for character
Procedural information only. Not legal advice and not a substitute for the advice of an attorney. Confirm the current text with the official publisher before relying on it.