Utilities Readying Challenge on Pole Attachment Order
Utility lawyers at Keller and Heckman are putting together “a coalition” of power companies to challenge the FCC’s pole attachments order (CD April 8 p3), lawyers Jack Richards and Tom Magee announced Monday. The order, which set deadlines for make-ready work, also lowered pole attachment rates for CLECs and gave ILECs a chance to lower their rates through FCC review. The order was published in the Federal Register Monday. “It’s contrary to the Pole Attachments Act and we just don’t think the FCC has the authority to do it,” Magee told us.
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Utilities have until June 8 to challenge the order. They'll first file a petition for reconsideration and are considering a motion for a stay of the order, Magee said. But “it'll head for a court challenge.” It has been nearly a decade since utility companies challenged a commission rulemaking, Magee said. An FCC spokesman declined to comment.
Magee and Richards represented an ad hoc coalition of power companies during the pole attachment proceeding. It included Allegheny Power, Baltimore Gas and Electric, Dayton Power and Light, First Energy, National Grid, NSTAR, South Dakota Electric Utilities and Wisconsin Public Service Co. No companies have stepped forward to join a petition as of Monday afternoon, Magee said.
The order “reinterprets” language in Sections 224(a) and (b) of the Telecom Act, which gives “providers of telecommunications service” the right to “just and reasonable” pole attachment rates. The FCC now says the definition includes CLECs, cable companies and ILECs. ILECs are given only the right to challenge their rates because Section 224(f) forbids discriminating against “telecommunications carriers” for pole access. The order was approved unanimously, with each commissioner saying it would help accelerate broadband deployment.