Rhode Island General Laws 39-3-35. Municipal rights and franchises subject to regulation
Every franchise granted to any public utility by any town or city and all contracts, ordinances, rules, regulations, and orders entered into or made by any town or city regulating the use and enjoyment of rights and franchises granted to any public utility or regulating, restricting, or affecting the operation of transit vehicles, under the provisions of any general or special law, shall be subject to the continuing control of the division in the exercise of the powers enumerated in chapters 1 — 5 of this title, and during the existence thereof, every franchise, contract, ordinance, rule, regulation, and order shall be deemed to include, and be subject to, the exercise by the division of any and all of the powers or regulations provided for in chapters 1 — 5 of this title.
History of Section.
P.L. 1912, ch. 795, § 51; G.L. 1923, ch. 253, § 51; G.L. 1938, ch. 122, § 48; G.L. 1956, § 39-3-35; P.L. 1959, ch. 144, § 2.
Terms Used In Rhode Island General Laws 39-3-35
- Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
- Division: means the division of public utilities and carriers. See Rhode Island General Laws 39-1-2
- Public utility: means and includes every company that is an electric distribution company and every company operating or doing business in intrastate commerce and in this state as a railroad, street railway, common carrier, gas, liquefied natural gas, water, telephone, telegraph, and pipeline company, and every company owning, leasing, maintaining, managing, or controlling any plant or equipment, or any part of any plant or equipment, within this state for manufacturing, producing, transmitting, distributing, delivering, or furnishing natural or manufactured gas, directly or indirectly, to or for the public, or any cars or equipment employed on, or in connection with, any railroad or street railway for public or general use within this state, or any pipes, mains, poles, wires, conduits, fixtures, through, over, across, under, or along any public highways, parkways, or streets, public lands, waters, or parks for the transmission, transportation, or distribution of gas for sale to the public for light, heat, cooling, or power for providing audio or visual telephonic or telegraphic communication service within this state, or any pond, lake, reservoir, stream, well, or distributing plant or system employed for the distribution of water to the consuming public within this state, including the water supply board of the city of Providence; provided, that, except as provided in § 39-16-9 and in P. See Rhode Island General Laws 39-1-2
- town: may be construed to include city; the words "town council" include city council; the words "town clerk" include city clerk; the words "ward clerk" include clerk of election district; the words "town treasurer" include city treasurer; and the words "town sergeant" include city sergeant. See Rhode Island General Laws 43-3-9