Tennessee Code Title 65. Public Utilities and Carriers § 65-4-113

(a) No public utility, as defined in § 65-4-101, shall transfer all or any part of its authority to provide utility services, derived from its certificate of public convenience and necessity issued by the commission, to any individual, partnership, corporation or other entity without first obtaining the approval of the commission.

(b) Upon petition for approval of the transfer of authority to provide utility services, the commission shall take into consideration all relevant factors, including, but not limited to, the suitability, the financial responsibility, and capability of the proposed transferee to perform efficiently the utility services to be transferred and the benefit to the consuming public to be gained from the transfer. The commission shall approve the transfer after consideration of all relevant factors and upon finding that such transfer furthers the public interest.

(c) Following approval of the transfer pursuant to this section, the transferee shall be granted full authority to provide the transferred services subject to the continuing regulation of the commission. The transferor shall no longer have any authority to provide the transferred services, but shall retain authority to provide other services, if any are retained, which were not included in such transfer.

(d) This section shall not apply to any transfers falling under § 65-4-112. This section shall apply to all other utility service transfers, including, but not limited to, the transfer of the authority to provide communications services held by a land line telephone company pursuant to § 65-30-105(h).

(e) To the extent transferees receiving authority under this section would be prohibited from performing the service by § 65-30-104, § 65-30-105(a), or § 65-30-105(f)(2), those sections are declared inapplicable.