The Pennsylvania Senate confirmed three nominees to the state's Public Utility Commission Wednesday. Senators voted 46-3 to bring back Commissioner John Coleman, whose term expired Oct. 1, and add Katie Zerfuss, deputy secretary for legislative affairs for Gov. Tom Wolf (D), and Stephen DeFrank, former chief of staff for state Sen. Lisa Boscola (D). The Senate Consumer Protection Committee unanimously cleared the nominees at a webcast Tuesday meeting. Coleman, Zerfuss and DeFrank will join Chairman Gladys Brown Dutrieuille and Commissioner Ralph Yanora to form a full complement of PUC members. Zerfuss replaces term-expired David Sweet, and DeFrank replaces Andrew Place, who resigned. The new commissioners will be sworn in Thursday, the PUC said: DeFrank’s term will expire April 1, 2025, while Zerfuss’ term ends April 1, 2026, and Coleman’s term ends April 1, 2027. “We look forward to the return of Commissioner Coleman’s experienced voice, along with the new perspectives we will gain with the arrival of Commissioners DeFrank and Zerfuss,” said Dutrieuille.
California utilities would get three months to implement one-touch, make-ready (OTMR) under a revised proposed decision (PD) by the California Public Utilities Commission (docket R.17-06-028). CPUC members plan to vote Thursday on adopting OTMR for pole attachments (see 2210070061). Tuesday’s revised PD would adopt the cable industry’s suggestion to give three months for implementation rather than electric utilities’ proposal to give one year. With so much state and federal broadband funding available, the CPUC “is more inclined to order that compliance with the new OTMR requirements occur sooner rather than later so that broadband services are made more readily available in California’s neediest regions,” it said. The CPUC would disagree with its Safety and Enforcement Division that there isn't data to support a proposed finding that OTMR will promote utility safety. “The FCC adopted its access timeframes in 2011 and OTMR rules in 2018 after an extended process with the Broadband Deployment Advisory Committee that addressed safety,” said the revised PD. “The OTMR requirements adopted by the Commission are consistent with the FCC rules which have not been shown to have compromised safety.” No California pilot is necessary, it said. The CPUC won’t increase penalties for unauthorized pole attachments yet, the revised PD said. Pacific Gas and Electric sought to increase the $500 fee to $2,500; Southern California Edison wanted to increase it to $2,000. The CPUC isn't ready “to decide if the increased penalty amounts would provide the necessary deterrent effect, that the increased penalty amount would not place too onerous a burden on the attachers who would be penalized, or that there isn’t an alternative mechanism that would be more effective,” said the revised draft: The CPUC “will consider this issue later in this proceeding or in a subsequent proceeding to further develop the record.” Carriers must assess state USF surcharges through a new connections-based method starting April 1, said a Wednesday revised draft of another CPUC proposal up for vote Thursday (see 2210050038). The initial PD in docket R.21-03-002 proposed shifting methods Jan. 1, but industry raised concerns last month (see 2209230031). Among other edits, the CPUC deleted a line saying the commission “is limited in its ability to expand the billing base to include broadband.” It clarified that private branch exchanges and Centrex lines are “access lines” to be counted for contribution purposes. The CPUC would disagree with AT&T that the state public utility code’s Section 285 prevents it from applying the new contribution method to VoIP carriers.
The California Privacy Protection Agency board scheduled a second two-day meeting to consider draft changes to state privacy rules required by the 2020 California Privacy Rights Act. The CPPA will meet 9 a.m. PDT Oct. 28 and Oct. 29, said an agenda released Monday. The agency, which released modified draft rules earlier that day (see 2210170048), also plans to meet Friday and Saturday. “With four days of Board meetings already scheduled and another written comment period anticipated, the regulations are still open to change,” blogged Husch Blackwell privacy attorney David Stauss. “Even when these regulations are finalized, the Agency will need to engage in further rulemaking.”
The New Hampshire Public Utilities Commission should dismiss a cable industry petition to resolve a pole attachment rate dispute, Consolidated Communications said. Charter Communications, Comcast and Breezeline asked the PUC in August to look into allegedly “unjust, unreasonable, and unlawful” annual rental rates for attachments on Consolidated poles and joint-use charges by Consolidated for attaching to poles not owned by the company. Consolidated puts all its rates, terms and conditions in contracts that the petitioners entered voluntarily, the pole owner said Friday in docket DT 22-047: “The requests for relief, among other things, fail to state claims upon which relief may be granted.”
Maryland is weighing options after a state court struck down the state’s digital ad tax law, the state attorney general’s office said Monday. “Our office is reviewing the decision to determine next steps,” a spokesperson emailed. Anne Arundel Circuit Court Judge Alison Asti ruled from the bench at a Monday motions hearing in the lawsuit by Comcast against Maryland’s comptroller (case C-02-CV-21-000509). The ruling pleased Comcast, a spokesperson said. A federal court earlier said the Tax Injunction Act precluded it from reviewing the tax, but that court continues to review the state’s prohibition on passing on the tax’s costs to consumers (see 2209070026).
The California Privacy Protection Agency (CPPA) board released modified draft regulations to implement changes to state privacy rules required by the 2020 California Privacy Rights Act. The CPPA posted the modified text and an explanatory document Monday, before a planned Friday-Saturday meeting (see 2210110013). “The purpose(s) for which the personal information was collected or processed shall be consistent with the reasonable expectations of the consumer,” said one addition. Such expectations are based on the relationship between the consumer and the business, the “type, nature, and amount of personal information that the business seeks to collect or process,” the information’s source and the business’ collection and processing method, the “specificity, explicitness, and prominence” of consumer disclosures and the “degree to which the involvement of service providers, contractors, third parties, or other entities in the collection or processing of personal information is apparent to the consumer.” A business’ collection, use, retention or sharing of personal data should be “reasonably necessary and proportionate,” said another addition. That takes into account whether a business collected the minimum amount of data needed, possible negative impacts to consumers, and safeguards to address possible problems, the updated rules said. Clarifying rules on dark patterns, the modified draft states, “A business’s intent in designing the interface is not determinative in whether the user interface is a dark pattern, but a factor to be considered.” Future of Privacy Forum Senior Counsel Keir Lamont tweeted, “Be on high alert for the board to approve these modified regulations, triggering a public comment period, potentially lasting as little as 15 days.”
Nevada blamed a “physical failure with a fiber connection” for an internet outage affecting most state websites and online services. The outage started 5:30 p.m. Thursday, the office of Gov. Steve Sisolak (D) said Friday. The outage forced closure of Department of Motor Vehicles offices statewide, and internet and email weren’t available at all state office buildings in the state's northern portion, it said. “Due to safety concerns, because of proximity to an active rail line, restoration work was initially delayed.” The Nevada Department of Administration tweeted Friday that fire caused the fiber damage. The department later tweeted that the damaged fiber was being replaced with new fiber. "Initial estimates indicate repair will be completed this afternoon, but no firm estimated time is available from the provider yet."
After scrapping a California LifeLine proposal on the state low-income program’s interaction with federal support (see 2210040037), the California Public Utilities Commission sought comment Friday on a possible pilot for using federal affordable connectivity program (ACP) funds. It would “test an approach to providing a bundled service plan that includes voice service and sufficient wireline or wireless broadband service to meet household needs,” said the ruling by Commissioner Genevieve Shiroma in docket R.20-02-008. Pilot participants could “stack” up to $17.90 monthly of the California LifeLine specific support amount with the $30 ACP discount and $9.25 federal Lifeline subsidy for plans that meet the pilot criteria, it said. All state LifeLine participants who meet ACP and federal Lifeline eligibility criteria would be eligible for the pilot, it said. Comments are due Nov. 30, with replies due Dec. 30.
The California Public Utilities Commission seeks comments on how its new affordability framework is being used and interpreted in specific CPUC proceedings and in the agency’s annual affordability report, said Commissioner Darcie Houck in a ruling Thursday in docket R.18-07-006. Comments are due Nov. 30. The CPUC posted the 2020 affordability report the same day. On communications, the report said “select census tracts across the state still contain communities that face affordability challenges due to low income, high cost of service, or both.” On average, essential services affordability changed little from 2019 to 2020, “though significant changes in affordability were observed in specific geographic areas where large changes in income were observed in the [American Community Survey] data.”
New Jersey’s Assembly Consumer Affairs Committee voted 5-0 for a bill (A-1884) to require telecom, cable TV and ISPs to allow customers to end contracts when a physician refers them to a long-term care facility. “It seems fair,” said Chair Paul Moriarty (D) at a livestreamed hearing Thursday. He said the bill might later be amended to require canceling customers to provide doctor’s notes. The panel also unanimously supported A-3769 to require music and video websites to disclose their correct contact information. The bill by Assemblyman Raj Mukherji (D) aims to thwart intellectual property theft, Moriarty said. The chairman wants to invite telcos to a possible December hearing on a caller ID bill, which was discussed but not voted upon Thursday, he said. Multiple committee members indicated support for A-1034, which would require telemarketers to transmit their name and telephone number.