Internet providers, utility companies and West Virginia broadband officials are trying to speed up settling pole attachment disputes that threaten the state’s $1.2 billion broadband expansion, according to proposals from a closed-door task force obtained by Mountain State Spotlight.
The two proposals were shared with the task force members late last week in advance of a meeting tomorrow afternoon.
The first would speed up resolving disputes and the second would require utilities to report more information about the status of their poles.
Public Service Commission officials have deemed task force meetings closed and have not allowed the media or the public to attend. Reporters were asked to leave the task force’s initial meeting in November.
As internet service providers apply to attach fiber or other equipment to poles owned by power companies, they’ve been charged unexpected fees and the costs associated with replacing old utility poles.
These fees have strained budgets as companies fight over who bears the cost share, slowing down the state’s broadband expansion efforts. Internet providers are footing the bill for replacing aging poles because utility companies maintain that the responsibility falls on an attacher.
Almost all of the poles in West Virginia are owned by utility companies, First Energy, American Electric Power and their various subsidiaries. A First Energy spokesperson said the company has received the proposals and looked forward to discussing them. An AEP spokesperson did not respond to emailed questions.
In August, the PSC created the group and invited representatives from internet providers and utility companies to investigate and determine a new resolution process for pole disputes that could impact the state’s broadband expansion. The members are set to issue final recommendations in January.
Ahead of the task force’s meeting tomorrow, Mountain State Spotlight obtained two draft proposals and a recommendation from a PSC lawyer to adopt a Federal Communications Commission code requiring pole owners to share inspection information with attachers.
The first proposal would establish a new response team modeled on the FCC’s Rapid Broadband Assessment Team that was established in July.
The team will review complaints submitted by utilities and internet providers about pole attachments and speed up the process to remedy any issues. The filer must notify the other party within two business days before filing a complaint.
The complaint must include the number of poles in the dispute, steps already taken to alleviate the dispute and a description of which rules have been violated. It also must include whether the project has a government funding deadline.
The responding party has five business days to respond to the complaint. Then, a team of PSC staff would review the information and decide how to resolve the dispute, with the option to send it to a mediator appointed by an administrative law judge.
The whole process would be completed in 30 days with the option to extend the deadline for 15 more, according to the proposal. Under current PSC rules disputes have to be resolved in 180 days and can be extended to 360 days.
The second draft proposal would require utility companies and other pole owners to submit an annual pole attachment report to regulators. If the proposal is adopted, pole owners would be required to report how many attachment requests they get, how many they’ve completed and how long it took to make a pole ready for the attachment.
They would also report the number of poles determined to be out of compliance. Known as red-tagged poles, these poles are marked by a utility to be replaced.
In a recommendation to the task force, a PSC lawyer suggested the group adopt a piece of FCC code about how fast pole inspections have to be provided to attachers. They also mentioned that pole owners are working on compiling a list of joint-approved contractors to work on poles.
A spokesperson from the PSC declined to comment on the task force’s deliberations and any updates to the proposed documents.