Opinion ID: 1467361
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Passage of Time or Other Change in Circumstances

Text: [¶ 11] The Commission has broad authority to rescind, alter, or amend any order it has made. 35-A M.R.S.A. § 1321. When a party files a petition to amend, the Commission must first examine the petition to determine whether it presents sufficient legal or factual issues to warrant a de novo review of its initial order. See id. Here, in the stipulation incorporated in the order, the parties agreed that Verizon would have the right to petition for an amendment upon the passage of time or other change in circumstances. Because the order adopting the stipulation remained effective, and no law or Commission rule had supplanted the order at the time of Verizon's request, Verizon bore the burden of demonstrating that a meaningful passage of time or other substantial change in circumstances had come to pass. [¶ 12] Although the parties differ in their interpretation of the Commission's conclusions, we interpret the Commission's order as determining that a change in circumstances and the passage of time warranted review of the restrictive conditions. We also conclude that the finding of a change in circumstances and the passage of time was adequately supported in the record. Five years had passed between the adoption of the original order incorporating the stipulation and the filing of Verizon's petition, during which time the market had, in fact, changed. The Commission concluded that [a]t the time the Stipulation was approved the TelAct was a little over one year old, and local competition was almost non-existent.... Today, the local exchange market has evolved somewhat, in that there now are approximately 100 companies certified to provide[ ] competitive local service in Maine. Accordingly, we read the Commission's order as finding, upon sufficient evidence, that Verizon met its initial burden by sufficiently demonstrating a change of circumstances warranting a review of the Commission's order.