Vermont Penalizes Consolidated $120,000 on Service Quality
Consolidated Communications must pay Vermont $120,000 in penalties or commit to investing $150,000 in upgrading plant in rural areas this year to make up for service-quality problems, the Vermont Public Utility Commission ordered Monday in case 18-3231-PET. Consolidated failed to…
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satisfy metrics for troubles not cleared in 24 hours, and it violated commission rules on bill credits, said the order. All three commissioners signed: Chairman Anthony Roisman and members Margaret Cheney and Sarah Hofmann. The agency noted public comments describing “poor quality of service, unreliable service, persistent service outages, long and unpredictable repair times for outages, deteriorating plant, and poor customer service.” The commission attributed the company’s performance to “inadequate staffing, failure to make sufficient plant upgrades, failure to conduct due diligence prior to its purchase of [FairPoint Communications], and weather-related events.” The PUC rejected the Vermont Department of Public Service recommendation to impose an automatic bill credit of $5 daily for troubles not cleared in 24 hours (see 1911220054), saying the commission has power to impose only penalties paid to the general fund. Consolidated didn't comment.