pole attachment – Page 5 – Steve Blum's Blog

FCC’s local pole preemption order based on speculation, ignores substantial evidence, cities tell appeals court

12 June 2019 by Steve Blum
ab57, fcc, pole attachment, public policy, small cells

The Federal Communications Commission’s preemptions of local property rights – particularly city-owned street light poles – and local rules regulating the use of public right of ways are contrary to federal law and violate the federal constitution, according to arguments submitted to a San Francisco appeals court by dozens of cities, counties and local government associations. In their opening brief submitted on Monday, they made their case for overturning last year’s FCC rulings that swept away state and local land use, road maintenance, property leasing practices and other policies that mobile carriers find bothersome.… More

Opening briefs challenging FCC pole and right of way preemptions filed in ninth circuit

11 June 2019 by Steve Blum
ab57, fcc, pole attachment, public policy, small cells

Dozens of local governments from across the U.S. filed joint arguments yesterday with the ninth circuit federal appeals court in San Francisco, as challenges to two 2018 Federal Communications Commission decisions move ahead. Mobile carriers and municipal electric utilities also filed opening briefs. I’ll dive deeper into the arguments in the next few days, but you can read them here now:

Petitioner Local Governments’ joint opening brief, 10 June 2019
Brief of petitioner the American Public Power Association, 10 June 2019
Petitioner Montgomery County, Maryland’s opening brief, 10 June 2019
Joint opening brief for Petitioners Sprint Corporation; Verizon Communications Inc.;… More

Wildfires burn in northern California, but proactive power cuts might have limited the damage

10 June 2019 by Steve Blum
cpuc, PGE, pole attachment, sb901

Pacific Gas and Electric did two rounds of proactive cuts over the weekend, in response to warnings of high fire danger due to weather conditions. It was no false alarm. Cal Fire’s online map shows more than a dozen wildfires in PG&E’s territory, including the Sand Fire in Yolo County that’s grown to at least 2,200 acres. There’s no basis to speculate why any of those fires began – that’s a question for later.

However, there is reason to suspect that it might have been worse if PG&E hadn’t cut off electricity to approximately 23,000 customers in Butte, Napa, Solano, Yolo (but not where the Sand Fire began) and Yuba counties.… More

Another bipartisan bill preempting local ownership of streetlight poles lands in U.S. senate

4 June 2019 by Steve Blum
fcc, pole attachment, public policy, s1699, small cells

Despite promises to work with local government representatives to develop less onerous language, a bill to preempt local ownership of streetlight poles and other municipal property that is 1. located in the public right of way and 2. coveted by wireless broadband providers was re-introduced in the U.S. senate with no significant changes. S.1699 is sponsored by the same bipartisan team of John Thune (R – South Dakota) and Brian Schatz (D – Hawaii) that pushed it last year.… More

California lawmakers bury bills to bury electric lines

28 May 2019 by Steve Blum
CampFire, cpuc, pole attachment, sb70, utility regulation

In the wake of last year’s deadly wildfires, California lawmakers proposed legislation to reduce future risk by reducing electric line exposure. Those ambitions didn’t amount to much, though. Two bills to encourage utilities to move lines off of poles and place them underground, particularly in high fire risk areas were scrapped. A third one was neutered, but is still moving forward.

Senate bill 70 was passed unanimously by the senate and is awaiting its fate in the assembly.… More

Cal Fire pins Camp Fire blame on PG&E, but won’t release investigation details yet

17 May 2019 by Steve Blum
CampFire, cpuc, PGE, pole attachment, utility regulation

PG&E equipment started the deadly Camp Fire in Butte County last year, but the details of how and, perhaps, why are still under wraps. On Wednesday, Cal Fire announced that its investigation found that PG&E started two fires near the town of Paradise on 8 November 2018…

CAL FIRE has determined that the Camp Fire was caused by electrical transmission lines owned and operated by Pacific Gas and Electricity (PG&E) located in the Pulga area.

The fire started in the early morning hours near the community of Pulga in Butte County.

… More

San Francisco considers taking over PG&E’s electric business

15 May 2019 by Steve Blum
PGE, pole attachment, public policy, san francisco, utility regulation

The City and County of San Francisco is a small step closer to taking over the electric half of Pacific Gas and Electric’s utility operations. A report produced by the City’s local public utilities commission, at the request of mayor London Breed, airs many grievances with PG&E, extolls the benefits of a municipally owned electric utility and glosses over the hard questions of how and how much.

San Francisco’s options, according to the report, range from continuing to arm wrestle with PG&E, to building some limited extensions of existing city-owned electric distribution lines, to simply taking over PG&E assets and operations…

The City can completely remove its reliance on PG&E for local electricity services through purchasing PG&E’s electric delivery assets and maintenance inventories in and near San Francisco, and operating them as a public, not for profit service.

… More

Electric utilities will decide when to cut power in the face of fire threats

8 May 2019 by Steve Blum
cpuc, PGE, pole attachment, SCE, sdge

Californian electric utilities will have clearer guidance on how, if not when, to shut down – de-energise – local power lines when the danger of sparking a wildfire is at its peak. That’s assuming a decision drafted by California Public Utilities Commission president Michael Picker is approved later this month. It’s not the full and final instruction manual, but it’s a start. The new procedures will be in place for this year’s wildfire season and can be improved as time goes on.… More

Court says appeal of FCC local pole ownership preemption will continue

25 April 2019 by Steve Blum
ab57, fcc, pole attachment, public policy, small cells

The ninth circuit federal appeals court ruled that challenges to last year’s Federal Communications Commission’s wireless and wireline preemption orders will move forward. The FCC will have to deliver its administrative record to the court next month, and the initial exchange of arguments from both sides will begin in June and run through September, according to an earlier ruling that two appellate justices confirmed yesterday.

Local challenges to FCC streetlight preemption order move ahead

22 April 2019 by Steve Blum
ab57, fcc, pole attachment, public policy, small cells

A federal appeals court commissioner has, for now, set a schedule that sorts out the various challenges to last year’s Federal Communications Commission decisions that preempted local ownership of streetlights and similar infrastructure, and put tight restrictions on how local governments manage public right of ways. Last week Peter Shaw, a commissioner for the ninth circuit federal appeals court in San Francisco, met with attorneys for local agencies and associations that are challenging various aspects of the order, and with lawyers for mobile carriers that are pretending to be upset with the FCC’s decisions, but are actually jumping in on its side.… More