The California Public Utilities Commission may vote Aug. 31 on a proposal to deny a California Broadband and Video Association petition to modify a resolution on public housing, the CPUC said Friday. The state cable association raised concerns in March with a December CPUC resolution awarding $1.4 million in California Advanced Services Fund (CASF) broadband public housing account (BPHA) grants to 19 projects. While not seeking to overturn the award, CalBroadband asked the CPUC to remove language saying broadband services that are free due to ACP or other subsidies don't count as free services for purposes of determining if an application is eligible for funding (See 2303220053). The CPUC’s proposed resolution T-17796 would deny the CalBroadband petition since it “raises no new or changed facts,” and the commission addressed its issues in previous decisions, the CPUC said. “To the extent CalBroadband raises a new policy argument, a petition for modification is not the proper vehicle to raise it,” it said. “The Commission has consistently held that a petition for modification is not a second bite at the apple: it will not consider issues which are simply re-litigation of issues that it has already considered.” Consumer advocates urged CPUC denial. CalBroadband didn’t comment Monday.

Consolidated Communications wants 18 more months to provide pole attachment data required by a 2021 California Public Utilities Commission decision (D.21-10-019), the telco said in a Friday letter to CPUC Executive Director Rachel Peterson. “Validating many of Consolidated’s data point responses will require an exact understanding where each pole is located, and Consolidated relies upon the pole owner to make available that specific pole location information in the form of a database,” it said. “Databases are not yet fully available for pole location information.” Validation will require “a comprehensive field inspection of each of the approximately 30,000 poles Consolidated is attached to,” said the telco: Consolidated will have to bring in outside contractors to do inspections and collect data but lacks resources in this year’s budget “to absorb what amounts to a seven figure expense,” it said. Consolidated will budget the expense for next year, it said. An 18-month extension would give the company until March 3, 2025, to provide the data.

Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek (D) signed a bill Thursday to regulate data brokers. HB-2052 passed the legislature June 22 (see 2306230026).

AT&T's apparent view that "the mere presence of an uncommitted 'voice alternative' makes” carrier-of-last-resort obligations obsolete is contradictory to California universal service rules, the California Public Utilities Commission’s independent Public Advocates Office said Thursday. PAO pressed the commission to reject AT&T opposition to PAO’s motion to dismiss AT&T’s application to shed COLR obligations in most of California. “AT&T asks the Commission to allow it to withdraw as the COLR for millions of Californians even though there is currently no other provider that is obligated to serve all customers in AT&T’s vast service area,” the advocates said in docket A.23-03-003. The CPUC plans a prehearing conference Thursday on AT&T’s application (see 2307190047).

Parties want until Sept. 1 to file another status report on negotiations to reach agreement on a successor price plan for Lumen’s CenturyLink, Oregon DOJ said Thursday (docket UM 1908). An Oregon PUC administrative law judge sought an update by July’s end (see 2307120013). “The parties have been working together in good faith to resolve the issues in this docket and have made meaningful progress towards settlement,” wrote Oregon Assistant Attorney General Natascha Smith: Parties aim to reach agreement without a hearing before the Sept. 28 expiration of the current price plan.

The Oklahoma Corporation Commission voted 2-1 to increase the state USF’s per-connection surcharge, at a livestreamed meeting Thursday. The flat fee will increase to $2.02 monthly per connection in September, from $1.85, under the commission’s second interim order in case OSF2022-000045. Before voting no, Commissioner Bob Anthony noted the draft order was distributed late afternoon Wednesday. In a written dissent, the Republican noted Oklahoma USF (OUSF) collected about $7 million two decades ago, yet Thursday’s order says the fund requires $110 million in fiscal year 2023. “That’s more than 15 times higher than 20 years ago, and the statute still provides no cap.” The government program is opaque, complained Anthony. “Basic transparency and disclosure about this program should enable the public to know: Where do these OUSF monies actually go? To network improvements, infrastructure buildout, and modernization? Or to better salaries, higher profits and larger dividends for a few dozen independent telephone companies and/or their owners?” At the commission’s July 11 meeting, OUSF Administrator Mark Argenbright said the increased surcharge should put the commission on track to eliminating a current USF deficit in September 2024. Argenbright disagreed with CTIA, which said the increasing surcharge shows Oklahoma’s connections-based contribution method isn’t working (see 2307110078).

The Wireless ISP Association urged California Senate appropriators Wednesday to advance an Assembly-passed bill that would explicitly authorize wireless broadband providers to apply for California Advanced Services Fund (CASF) federal funding account (FFA) grants. AB-1065 cleared the Senate Communications Committee last month (see 2306200053) and is in the Appropriations Committee’s suspense file, a category reserved for bills deemed to be costly. The California Public Utilities Commission “has only funded fiber projects through the FFA, which has led to many California residents lagging woefully behind the state in accessing high-quality internet service,” said WISPA’s letter to Appropriations Committee Chair Anthony Portantino (D). The industry group said fixed wireless “can quickly and efficiently step into this gap.”

The Michigan Public Service Commission granted a temporary license to altafiber to provide basic local exchange service in Frontier Communications and AT&T zones and exchanges throughout Michigan. Commissioners Dan Scripps and Katherine Peretick voted yes at a Wednesday meeting. Joining the PSC only this week, Commissioner Alessandra Carreon abstained from voting on all orders at the meeting. The temporary license will expire upon the commission making a final order granting or denying altafiber’s application for permanent license, or in one year, whichever is sooner, said the PSC order in docket U-21449. The commission Monday set an evidentiary hearing Aug. 22 at 9 a.m. before Administrative Law Judge Christopher Saunders.

Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp (R) urged the U.S. Supreme Court to “overturn” Chevron, or at least clarify that statutory silence doesn’t create “an ambiguity triggering Chevron deference,” in an amicus brief Monday (docket 22-451) in support of the petitioners in Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo. The docket shows 46 amicus briefs were filed through Monday since the petitioners filed their opening brief July 17 (see [Ref:2307180033), including 31 briefs filed Monday alone. As Georgia governor, Kemp “knows the damage federal regulations can have when federal agencies extend their regulatory purview through self-serving statutory interpretations,” said his brief. He also knows “the difficulty of enacting statewide, comprehensive policy measures in the face of unpredictable intrusion by federal agencies into areas traditionally reserved for state power,” it said. Chevron should be overturned “for a multitude of reasons,” it said. One reason is Chevron’s “propensity to deny judicial remedy to agency interpretations that upset traditional federalism principles,” said Kemp’s brief. Any action SCOTUS takes on Loper Bright “should be evaluated against the backdrop of the looming questions over the proper extent of federal authority into areas traditionally reserved” to the states, it said. SCOTUS should overrule Chevron “and require Congress to clearly call for agency actions that alter the federal-state balance,” it said: “Requiring a clear statement in all circumstances -- not just the most extreme cases -- brings the fundamental question of what Congress can do to the forefront.”

A New Jersey commission will study social media effects on youth. Gov. Phil Murphy (D) signed SB-715 Monday. The legislature passed the bill last month (see 2306210039). The state’s education commissioner, four legislature appointees and 14 governor appointees will sit on the commission. “Social media use is undoubtedly a significant part of many young people’s lives these days, which is why it is so critical to determine the full scope of its impact on students,” said Murphy. “By establishing this commission, we will better understand how social media use -- both in and out of school -- is affecting the physical and mental health, safety, and academic performance of students to help mitigate any negative repercussions.”