Lumen, Ore. PUC Staff Reject Opposition to Pricing Pact

Opposition to Lumen’s pact with Oregon Public Utility Commission staff on a successor price plan “largely ignores the tremendous amount of give and take reflected in the Stipulation,” Lumen Regulatory Affairs Director Peter Gose testified Tuesday at the PUC (docket UM 1908). The Oregon Citizens’ Utility Board (CUB) and a Lumen landline customer opposed the settlement last month (see 2310250014). “Their position is also hyper-focused on approximately 100 residents of rural Jacksonville … rather than on all 4,100 'Protected Customers' statewide.” Opponents “seem content to let the new statewide protections be scrapped in favor of indefinitely retaining” previous Jacksonville protections that weren’t meant to be permanent, he said. Lumen won’t move forward with the settlement if the PUC’s previous Jacksonville orders are retained, said Gose. Oregon PUC staff urged the commission to approve the agreement. “Despite the objections and testimony of the Intervenors being focused almost exclusively on the impact to the Jacksonville, OR area, the agreements affect all CenturyLink Oregon customers and the Stipulating Parties recognize the importance of improving service quality across the state, which is why the Protected Customer class encompasses over four thousand customers, greatly expanding the scope beyond Jacksonville,” Senior Utility Analyst Russ Beitzel testified.