Ore. PUC Upholds Lumen Order in Probe

The Oregon Public Utility Commission rejected Lumen’s challenge to an October decision during a service-quality probe. The PUC said Wednesday it upheld the order in docket UM 1908 to keep existing Lumen residential rates and follow reporting and complaint resolution guidelines while the PUC probed phone and internet outages reported by customers in the Jacksonville area (see 2210120045). “As a carrier of last resort, Lumen is required to provide safe and reliable service to all its customers and this is particularly important when health and safety issues exist,” said Commissioner Letha Tawney. “The PUC’s investigation was launched as these families in the Jacksonville area continue to experience service quality and reliability issues with their landline voice service, which is a public safety concern. Upholding the decision enables the PUC to continue to track Lumen’s progress in making service quality improvements for customers in this area.” Lumen declined to comment.