Telecom Has 'Shared Responsibility' Adapting to Climate Change, FCBA Told

Pole policies and participants must respond to climate change, said current and former state utilities regulators during an FCBA virtual event Monday. Pole replacement backlogs and insufficient information about attachments are challenges, they said. Florida could finalize its process this summer to become the 23rd state, in addition to Washington, D.C., to reverse preempt FCC pole attachments authority, said Berger Singerman cable attorney Floyd Self on another panel.

“Climate change adaptation is a shared responsibility,” said Oregon Public Utility Commissioner Letha Tawney. “There is a perception that this is the electric utilities’ problem. That is not the case.” Every provider, “whether you're an electricity customer or you have infrastructure in the landscape, has to take this responsibility on." Oregon had more than 900,000 acres burned during Labor Day 2020 wildfires, a record, said Tawney. “Several communities were wiped off the map.” That event wasn’t an outlier but rather “our new normal,” the state commissioner said. “The scale of change on the landscape is rapid, it's extreme and it's fundamentally systemic.”

Climate change is transforming the world, but poles haven’t changed much since they were developed for Samuel Morse's telegraph system, said former California Public Utilities Commissioner Catherine Sandoval. Climate change, extreme drought and aging infrastructure increase safety risks, with many 20th century infrastructure management practices not well-calibrated for 21st century hazards, said the Santa Clara University law professor. "We need to center public safety in the regulatory framework," said Sandoval. “The duty for safety and reliability applies to utilities that are not rate-regulated as well as those that are rate regulated.”

Pole replacement costs are significant for electric ratepayers, ILECs and existing attachers, said Stephen Capozzi, Connecticut Public Utilities Regulatory Authority's Reliability, Security and Resilience Unit supervisor. Since 2019, about 9% of new Connecticut attachments required pole replacements, and they’re almost always necessary when attaching wireless small-cell facilities, he said. Connecticut has a backlog of poles awaiting replacements, with delays from a lack of qualified workers and supply chains, said Capozzi.

Legislatures should consider adopting pole replacement funds, which some states have done, said Marva Johnson, Charter Communications vice president-state government affairs. That can remove concerns about which entity must pay, she said. Legislators should also consider mirroring some states that fund faster permitting and make-ready processes, she said. Poles are essential for broadband deployment, but Charter finds it needs to replace about 8% of the poles to which it seeks to attach facilities, said Johnson.

Recognizing a "real need to get a good reliable census about what is actually on the poles,” the CPUC required a pole attachment survey, though the decision is under appeal, said Sandoval. “That’s something that hadn’t been done before by the state and hasn’t been required by federal law.” Oregon hasn’t gotten that far, said Tawney. “As we get more sophisticated in our efforts around this issue, I think that will come up.” Connecticut’s single pole administrators are supposed to keep a list of all the attachers on every pole, said Capozzi: “Reality doesn’t always match that.”

The Florida Public Service Commission could approve a certification to reverse preempt the FCC’s pole attachment authority as soon as its July 7 meeting, said Self, who represents Florida Internet & Television in the proceeding. That’s if AT&T fails in its challenge to March rules adopted by the PSC (see 2203150022), said Self: The PSC would have to extend its rulemaking if AT&T succeeds. Florida’s administrative hearings division is expected to decide AT&T’s petition by June 1, the lawyer said. Self said he was surprised to see some states take control of pole attachments after earlier deregulating telecom.

“Time will tell” if other states follow Florida in reverse preempting the FCC, said Matthew DeTura, CTIA counsel-state affairs. It seemed like a “turning point” when West Virginia and Pennsylvania did it a couple of years ago after a span of about a decade since the last state, Arkansas, did so, said DeTura: But aside from Florida, DeTura isn’t aware of any new state bills passed or rulemakings.