Amends TCA Title 7, Chapter 36.

Generally under the Municipal Energy Authority Act, a municipal energy authority may, among other things, provide telecommunications service to any person, governmental entity, or other user or consumer of telecommunications services within or outside the associated municipality. Present law imposes certain territorial limitations on the provision of such services, such as prohibiting the municipality from providing service in any area of any existing telephone cooperative that has been providing cable service for not less than 10 years under the authority of the federal communications commission. Also, in regard to cable, internet, and related services, that same present law provision prohibits a municipality from providing service where a privately held cable television operator is providing cable service over a cable system and in total serves 6,000 or fewer subscribers over one or more cable systems. Notwithstanding the above-described present law territorial limitations, this bill adds authorization under the Municipal Energy Authority Act for a municipal energy authority whose principal office is located in an eligible county, to provide cable or internet service within the portion of the county that is outside of the authority’s electric system service area if the authority obtains the consent of each telephone cooperative, electric cooperative, and municipal or other governmental electric system in whose territory the authority will provide those services. For purposes of this bill, "eligible county" is a county with a population of 25,000 or less that has also been designated as a tier 3 or a tier 4 enhancement county as of July 1 immediately prior to the date when the authority's board of directors approves the provision of services under this bill.