Pole attachments next big hurdle for broadband expansion

Photo Courtesy/FirstEnergy
A FirstEnergy crew works on power lines in Fairmont following October storms.

CHARLESTON — West Virginia has the federal money for broadband expansion.

The applications are in from internet service providers to begin running fiber lines to areas of the state either unserved or underserved by high-speed internet. But rules for installing those fiber lines quickly on poles owned by utilities are still being developed.

A task force formed by the West Virginia Public Service Commission met for the first time last week to begin discussions between internet service providers and owners of utility poles to work out issues as the state works to expand fiber broadband.

The PSC issued an order in August initiating a general investigation and forming a task force to look at making changes to rules governing pole attachments and dispute resolution processes between internet service providers (ISPs) and utility pole owners – usually power or telecommunication companies.

The task force is also charged with reviewing how pole inspection reports are shared between pole owners and the contractors who will install the fiber as pole attachments, as well as requiring pole owners to provide periodic reporting to the PSC on compliance with its rules.

The West Virginia Legislature has passed three bills since 2017 laying out the process for “make-ready pole access.” The PSC is required by State Code to adopt the rates, terms, and conditions of access to and use of poles, ducts, conduits, and rights-of-way for broadband enhancement.

Utility poles are used to support electrical transmission, cable television, and phone lines. But ISPs have been contracting with utility companies to use their existing poles for broadband internet service.

According to a presentation at October’s 2024 West Virginia Broadband Summit, most of the utility poles in the state are owned by FirstEnergy (Mon Power and Potomac Edison) or American Electric Power (AEP). Frontier Communications (in the process of being sold back to Verizon) and FirstEnergy are co-owners of some poles with FirstEnergy handling requests from ISPs for pole attachments.

“Mon Power and Potomac Edison support the expansion of broadband services in West Virginia,” said FirstEnergy spokesperson Will Boye. “At the same time, we are responsible for delivering safe and reliable electric service and must ensure that any new pole attachments do not adversely impact the safety of our line workers, communication line workers and the public. We strive to keep electricity costs manageable for our customers, and we must also ensure they are not financially impacted by the costs of new pole attachments, per PSC rules.”

Utility companies often charge fees for installation and rental fees for use of their poles by ISPs, who submit applications for installation. They also often require their own installers — sometimes third-party contractors — for placing fiber lines on their poles. State and federal regulations determine how this is done, but the PSC is given the authority to develop rule-making for these processes.

The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) approved West Virginia’s Volume II Initial Proposal for the Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) program in April. Approval of the BEAD plan means West Virginia can begin drawing down the $1.2 billion in funding the state was awarded in June 2023 through the federal Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.

The deadline for grant funding applications was Oct. 24 for the BEAD program through the West Virginia Department of Economic Development’s Office of Broadband. The Office of Broadband began its pre-application period for BEAD-funded grants on March 18 through May 30. The project application portal opened on Aug. 26. West Virginia was one of three states to be awarded its federal BEAD funding in June 2023.

One of the biggest hurdles is the sheer number of pole attachment requests currently pending even before a single BEAD dollar is distributed. Boye said as BEAD projects begin, it will increase the need for planning.

“The number of requests from internet service providers to attach to Mon Power and Potomac Edison’s poles has more than quadrupled in 2024 compared to 2020, and we expect those numbers to increase with the BEAD funding rollout,” Boye said. “While we have the resources we need today, we will need to utilize additional engineering and construction contractors in the future.”

ISPs were already working on private broadband expansion projects, plus the millions of dollars that was made available through the American Rescue Plan Act and the Federal Communications Commission’s Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF). Mark Polen with the Cable Telecommunication Association of West Virginia, said the backlog in pole attachment requests is creating a “hurricane-worth of issues.”

“This is a very significant problem today,” Polen said. “Notwithstanding BEAD upcoming, there are literally tens of thousands of pole attachment issues at stake throughout the industry in this state…They have a tremendous backlog.”

As an example, Polen said a project he is aware of has already been delayed well into 2025 despite millions that have already been paid to a pole owner for engineering and make-ready processes, which in turn create backlogs for other companies and other projects through the region due to the shortage of contractors. And that is not taking into account the possible replacement of older poles.

“This potentially involves hundreds of thousands of poles,” Polen said. “It’s almost as if you have a hurricane-worth of issues, because if you have hundreds of thousands of poles, you may have to replace 10% or 15% of those because of the age or various other factors that go into replacement decisions. So, that’s tremendously significant for the utilities.”

“Each pole attachment request requires an engineering analysis to determine if there is room on the pole, if the pole is strong enough to accommodate the attachment, and if required safety clearances from the ground and power lines can be met,” Boye explained.

The rules the PSC develops, with the advice of the PSC task force, will create a better dispute resolution system to allow utility companies and ISPs to better work together to complete broadband projects without disagreements going to costly litigation.

“There are potential ways to try to work it out and that’s what we’re talking about in these PSC meetings, to speed things up without going to a formal complaint process, which is like litigation,” Polen said. “That’s not going to be that easy to do either. It’s still very complex, but if all the parties have a commitment to trying to solve the problem, then it can get solved.”

Another thing that could help speed up the resolution of issues between ISPs and pole owners would be to allow some BEAD funding to go to the utilities that own the poles. Possible funding uses could cover the cost of pole replacement for the utilities.

“There’s a lot of money available and we should be smart enough to figure out how to utilize it in the best way possible and if this eases the process and helps these projects move forward more quickly, then we ought to at least consider it,” Polen said.