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\nWV PSC Chairwoman Charlotte Lane, right, told representatives of the ISPs and utility companies in attendance \u2014 that it was up to them to get their act together.<\/p>\n
CHARLESTON \u2014 Despite an order released at the end of June by the West Virginia Public Service Commission, disagreements between internet service providers and electric utilities over pole attachments could put broadband expansion projects at risk due to federal deadlines.<\/p>\n
The PSC issued an order on June 27 creating a Pole Attachment Working Group, a continuation of a task force created by the PSC last August.<\/p>\n
This permanent working group will advise the PSC and serve as a coordination forum between internet service providers (ISPs) and utility pole owners \u2013 usually power or telecommunication companies. The working group will monitor state and federal pole attachment issues, discuss new ideas, evaluate dispute resolution processes, provide input on regulatory changes, and recommend adoption of Federal Communications Commission rule changes. <\/p>\n
The working group is not intended to resolve individual disputes between ISPs and pole owners, which are handled by the Rapid Response Team (RRT) or the existing formal complaint process.<\/p>\n
The PSC ordered the creation of a pole inspection database, contingent on funding, to provide essential data to broadband providers. The order also requires annual reporting from pole owners on attachment requests and related activities, and creates a rulemaking process to permit temporary attachments and expedited pole replacements, aiming to reduce delays.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Commission is committed to providing a regulatory framework to facilitate the efficient and timely deployment of broadband throughout the State of West Virginia,\u201d the commission wrote in its June 27 order. \u201cFurthermore, pole owners have a duty within the regulatory framework provided by the Commission pursuant to the authority delegated by the West Virginia Legislature to allow for non-discriminatory access to poles by third-party attachers.\u201d<\/p>\n
In statements provided Friday, Akron-based FirstEnergy (Mon Power and Potomac Edison) and Columbus-based American Electric Power (Appalachian Power and Wheeling Power) said they supported the PSC\u2019s order.<\/p>\n
\u201cMon Power and Potomac Edison support the safe and efficient expansion of broadband services in West Virginia,\u201d said Will Boye, a senior communications representative with FirstEnergy. \u201cWe appreciate the opportunity to provide input to the commission as it works to improve the pole attachment process, and we will comply with its recent order.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe believe advanced planning and coordination between broadband companies and pole owners is critical to the successful expansion of broadband in West Virginia, and we will continue to work within the guidelines of any mandated regulatory requirements to ensure we are working toward resolutions that benefit the state and its residents,\u201d according to a prepared statement from Appalachian Power (APCo).<\/p>\n
Representatives of some of the state\u2019s ISPs \u2013 including Comcast and Bridgeport-based Citynet \u2013 also praised the June 27 PSC order, calling it a good first step. Yet, they believe that the PSC can take additional steps to cut through the disagreements between ISPs and pole owners to expedite pending broadband projects.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe very much appreciate the (PSC) injecting themselves into the issues that have been presented to the commission over the past several months, and the order issued is definitely a good step in moving in the right direction,\u201d said Citynet President and CEO Jim Martin in a phone interview Friday afternoon.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe order itself \u2026 there\u2019s nothing wrong with it per se, but it doesn\u2019t really address the problems that exist in the field today,\u201d said Mark Polen with the Cable Telecommunication Association of West Virginia in a phone interview Friday morning. \u201cA lot of different projects \u2013 both from the federal subsidy programs and from private investment solely without any subsidy \u2013 are somewhat at risk and that should be a concern to everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n
LOW BANDWIDTH<\/p>\n
West Virginia is already a whole construction season behind due to delays in the federal Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program. The U.S. Department of Commerce\u2019s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) released updated guidance in June for BEAD, established by the 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) to allocate more than $42 billion to expand high-speed broadband access across the United States. <\/p>\n
The NTIA approved West Virginia\u2019s Volume II Initial Proposal for the BEAD program in April 2024, becoming one of the first three states to have their initial proposals approved. West Virginia was awarded $1.2 billion through the BEAD program in June 2023 and was close to submitting its final BEAD proposal by an April 18 deadline.<\/p>\n
The BEAD program was placed on a pause at the beginning of March by Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick while the program was being reviewed. Gov. Patrick Morrisey announced in that same month that West Virginia was granted a 90-day extension to submit the state\u2019s final BEAD grant proposal.<\/p>\n
Morrisey announced on Tuesday that the Office of Broadband within the state Department of Commerce had published updated program procedures for the BEAD program, creating a new \u201cBenefit of the Bargain Round,\u201d which prioritizes low-cost projects and technology-neutral approaches \u2013 including low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite internet \u2013 for meeting service standards.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur office continues to complete the requirements to submit our final BEAD proposal,\u201d Morrisey said in a statement Tuesday. \u201cToday\u2019s announcement is the next step toward securing this critical funding and getting West Virginia connected.\u201d<\/p>\n
West Virginia\u2019s Benefit of the Bargain Round began Thursday and ends at midnight on Sunday, July 20. New and existing BEAD applicants will have the opportunity to submit funding requests for new and revised projects during the Benefit of Bargain Round. The July 20 close of the Benefit of Bargain round will be followed by a Final Proposal available for public comment in August. The BEAD Final Proposal will be submitted to NTIA on or before Wednesday, Sept. 3.<\/p>\n
Despite these changes, one thing remains the same: applicants must deploy the planned broadband network and begin providing service to each customer that desires broadband service within the project area no later than four years after the date on which the applicant receives a BEAD award by the Office of Broadband.<\/p>\n
Timelines for broadband projects funded through the $1.9 trillion federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) have even tighter timelines.<\/p>\n
According to the U.S. Treasury Department, more than $136 million of $10 billion in ARPA funds was allocated to West Virginia, with the state being approved to spend the full amount. The funding is meant to expand high-speed broadband to 20,000 locations, or 10% of locations in the state that lack access to broadband. The funding is coming from two different ARPA funds: the State and Local Fiscal Recovery Fund and the Capital Projects Fund.<\/p>\n
All ARPA broadband funds must be spent by Dec. 31, 2026. Recipients must return to the U.S. Treasury any grant funds that are not used by the end of the period of performance, though the Treasury Department has the flexibility to grant extensions to the period of performance upon request.<\/p>\n
BYTE THIS<\/p>\n
Earlier in June, Morrisey announced more than $34 million in ARPA broadband funding, including $2.8 million to Citynet for projects in Calhoun, Doddridge, Gilmer, and Lewis counties. Martin said the tight timeline for ARPA-funded projects and the ongoing disagreements with pole owners, such as FirstEnergy subsidiaries Potomac Edison and Mon Power, could put such projects at risk of not being completed. <\/p>\n
Martin said the PSC needs to make a determination on whether FirstEnergy is grandfathered into not having to make fixes to their pole network to be in compliance with the National Electrical Safety Code. Martin said Citynet has already spent approximately $8 million in the FirstEnergy service area on make-ready \u2013 the modification of poles for new ISP equipment. Of that amount, Martin said $5 million has been spent by Citynet to correct code violations that FirstEnergy should have paid to correct.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne thing that has not been brought forward by the commission to date on an official request is the position that FirstEnergy is grandfathered in and not responsible for any of their prior \u2026 code violations,\u201d Martin said. \u201cFirstEnergy is expecting and demanding that the ISPs correct all of their failures for the past three or four decades, which is a direct result of them not taking responsibility to police their poles.\u201d<\/p>\n
In a June 16 filing with the PSC, attorneys for Potomac Edison and Mon Power said it would be impossible for it to fix every pole every time there are changes to the National Electrical Safety Code.<\/p>\n
\u201c\u2026If a standard changes, the FE (FirstEnergy) Companies do not go out and rebuild their existing facilities to meet the new standards,\u201d the company\u2019s attorneys wrote. \u201cTo do so would be at an enormous wasteful cost to electric ratepayers when the facilities were constructed to code when built. What the FE Companies do is build new facilities to the new standard, but existing facilities are grandfathered.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen make ready work is required due to a pole attachment request, however, the facilities that were compliant due to grandfathering are required to make the construction align with the new NESC requirements,\u201d the filing continued. \u201cThe facilities are no longer grandfathered due to the new construction. Those costs should lie with the ISP, who required and requested the change due to the attachment, and not to electric ratepayers who did not cause the modification.\u201d<\/p>\n
Martin said if the PSC doesn\u2019t rule on the issue of grandfathering, then Citynet and other ISPs might have to pull out of BEAD projects altogether due to the enormous cost of replacing poles owned by utilities. Martin said the cost of doing so could put Citynet underwater next year by $50 million.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat is the one issue out there that will be coming from the PSC soon, assuming the PSC will address the grandfathering,\u201d Martin said. \u201cI think the Public Service Commission is doing a tremendous job helping resolve future issues. It will enable West Virginia to be successful and start a project in the upcoming (BEAD) program, but without a ruling or some declaration on the grandfathering position, broadband expansion could come to an immediate stop.\u201d<\/p>\n
Another $7.7 million in ARPA broadband funds was awarded last month to Comcast \u2013 one of several members of the Cable Telecommunication Association of West Virginia \u2013 for projects in Jackson, Mason, and Putnam counties. <\/p>\n
Polen said that pending pole attachment disagreements with American Electric Power could also delay projects and cause clawbacks of federal dollars. And as disagreements continue on ARPA-funded projects, it could put at risk BEAD-funded projects whose deadlines are further out.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s capital investment that is at risk in the state and it certainly risks our ability to complete projects,\u201d Polen said. \u201cRight now, we are at a point where even though there\u2019s a four-year span ahead for the BEAD projects, when you have situations where \u2026 our permits are taking more than a year to be approved for attachments in some cases, It backs up that pipeline of work and contractors and supplies and so forth to the point where it does put even those projects that have to be done by 2029 at risk.\u201d<\/p>\n
In its Friday afternoon statement, APCo said any future pole attachment regulations need to include requirements for advance planning and coordination, avoid the shifting of major broadband expansion costs being borne by electric ratepayers, and be able to resolve disagreements between ISPs and pole owners quickly.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur goal is to process these applications as efficiently as possible while ensuring the safety and reliability of the electric distribution system,\u201d an APCo spokesperson said. \u201cImposing additional regulatory burdens on pole owners hinders broadband deployment in West Virginia, and in some cases, creates a divide between broadband companies and pole owners.\u201d<\/p>\n
POLE POSITION<\/p>\n
PSC rulings in disagreements between Comcast and AEP, as well as Citynet and FirstEnergy, over pole attachments are still pending. Polen said the buck stops with the PSC when it comes to directing both ISPs and the electric utilities to play nice with each other.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe commission has all the power in the law and in the rules to resolve those things; to clear up these issues,\u201d Polen said.<\/p>\n
However, PSC Chairwoman Charlotte Lane stated during a June 3 evidentiary hearing prior to releasing their pole attachment order \u2013 with representatives of the ISPs and utility companies in attendance \u2013 that it was up to them to get their act together.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe West Virginia Public Service Commission is not going to be the reason that we don\u2019t get broadband to this state,\u201d Lane said. \u201cI hold the parties in this room responsible for the most part for where we are today, and we need to get something done.\u201d<\/p>\n
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