Kentucky Administrative Regulations › Title 807 - ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENT CABINET PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION › Chapter 5 - Utilities › Section 807 KAR 5:015 - Access and attachments to utility poles and facilities

Current through Register Vol. 51, No. 1, July 1, 2024
RELATES TO: KRS Chapter 278,  47 U.S.C. 224(c)
NECESSITY, FUNCTION, AND CONFORMITY: KRS 278.040(3) authorizes
				the commission to promulgate administrative regulations to implement the
				provisions of KRS Chapter 278. KRS 278.040(2) requires the commission to have
				exclusive jurisdiction over the regulation of rates and service of utilities.
				KRS 278.030(1) authorizes utilities to demand, collect, and receive fair, just,
				and reasonable rates. KRS 278.030(2) requires every utility to furnish
				adequate, efficient, and reasonable service. KRS 278.5464 requires the
				commission to promulgate administrative regulations regarding pole attachments
				under its jurisdiction, including those necessary for the provision of
				broadband.  47 U.S.C.A. 224(c)  requires that state regulation of pole
				attachments shall only preempt federal regulation of poles under federal
				jurisdiction if the state regulates the rates, terms, and conditions of access
				to those poles, has the authority to consider and does consider the interest of
				the customers of attachers and the pole owning utilities, has effective rules
				and administrative regulations governing attachments, and addresses complaints
				regarding pole attachments within 180 days. This administrative regulation
				establishes the process by which the commission regulates the rates, terms, and
				conditions of utility pole attachments and access to other utility facilities,
				establishes specific criteria and procedures for obtaining access to utility
				poles within the commission's jurisdiction, and establishes a process by which
				the complaints of those seeking to access utility facilities shall be addressed
				within the period established by federal law. The amendments establish an
				expedited complaint process to address issues pertaining to contract
				negotiations. 2024 Kentucky S.J.R. 175, 2024 Regular Session requires the
				Commission to promulgate emergency regulations addressing issues pertaining to
				broadband attachments to utility poles.
Section
			 1. Definitions.
(1) "Attachment"
			 means any attachment by a cable television system operator, telecommunications
			 carrier, broadband internet provider, or governmental unit to a pole owned or
			 controlled by a utility.
(2)
			 "Broadband internet provider":
(a) Means a
			 person who owns, controls, operates, or manages any facility used or to be used
			 to offer internet service to the public with download speeds of at least
			 twenty-five (25) megabits per second and upload speeds of at least three (3)
			 megabits per second; and
(b) Does
			 not mean a utility with an applicable joint use agreement with the utility that
			 owns or controls the poles to which it is seeking to attach.
(3) "Communications space" means
			 the lower usable space on a utility pole, which is typically reserved for
			 low-voltage communications equipment.
(4) "Complex make-ready" means any make-ready
			 that is not simple make-ready, such as the replacement of a utility pole;
			 splicing of any communication attachment or relocation of existing wireless
			 attachments, even within the communications space; and any transfers or work
			 relating to the attachment of wireless facilities.
(5) "Existing attacher" means any person or
			 entity with equipment lawfully on a utility pole.
(6) "Governmental unit" means an agency or
			 department of the federal government; a department, agency, or other unit of
			 the Commonwealth of Kentucky; or a county or city, special district, or other
			 political subdivision of the Commonwealth of Kentucky.
(7) "Macro cell facility" means a wireless
			 communications system site that is typically high-power and high-sited, and
			 capable of covering a large physical area, as distinguished from a distributed
			 antenna system, small cell, or WiFi attachment, for example.
(8) "Make-ready" means the modification or
			 replacement of a utility pole, or of the lines or equipment on the utility
			 pole, to accommodate additional facilities on the utility pole.
(9) "New attacher" means a cable television
			 system operator, telecommunications carrier, broadband internet provider, or
			 governmental unit requesting to attach new or upgraded facilities to a pole
			 owned or controlled by a utility, except that a new attacher does not include a
			 utility with an applicable joint use agreement with the utility that owns or
			 controls the pole to which it is seeking to attach or a person seeking to
			 attach macro cell facilities.
(10)
			 "Red tagged pole" means a pole that a utility that owns or controls the pole
			 that:
(a) Is designated for replacement based
			 on the pole's non-compliance with an applicable safety standard;
(b) Is designated for replacement within two
			 (2) years of the date of its actual replacement for any reason unrelated to a
			 new attacher's request for attachment; or
(c) Would have needed to be replaced at the
			 time of replacement even if the new attachment were not made.
(11) "Telecommunications carrier":
(a) Means a person who owns, controls,
			 operates, or manages any facility used or to be used for or in connection with
			 the transmission or conveyance over wire, in air, or otherwise, any message by
			 telephone or telegraph for the public, for compensation; and
(b) Does not mean a utility with an
			 applicable joint use agreement with the utility that owns or controls the poles
			 to which it is seeking to attach.
(12) "Simple make-ready" means make-ready in
			 which existing attachments in the communications space of a pole could be
			 rearranged without any reasonable expectation of a service outage or facility
			 damage and does not require splicing of any existing communication attachment
			 or relocation of an existing wireless attachment.