Opinion ID: 2599819
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Regulation of prices in competitive markets

Text: [¶ 21] Under the Act, the PSC may designate certain telecommunications services as competitive. Any service found to be effectively competitive shall not be subject to regulation of prices. Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 37-15-202(a). [4] Qwest points out that the PSC has designated services in the Afton Exchange as competitive, and so prices in the Afton Exchange are not subject to regulation. Qwest contends that, because the PSC lacks authority to regulate prices in the Afton Exchange, it also lacks authority to require a TSLRIC Study for the Afton Exchange. [¶ 22] Qwest's contention rests on the faulty premise that TSLRIC Studies can be used only to regulate prices. In fact, as discussed in more detail below, other provisions of the Act authorize other uses for TSLRIC Studies. When interpreting statutes, we construe them in pari materia, and avoid interpretations that would render some portions meaningless. Kunkle v. State ex rel. Wyo. Workers' Safety & Comp. Div., 2005 WY 49, ¶ 11, 109 P.3d 887, 890 (Wyo. 2005). We cannot ignore other provisions of the Act in evaluating Qwest's proposed interpretation of Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 37-15-202(a). [¶ 23] We begin our evaluation with Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 37-15-402(a) because it deals explicitly with TSLRIC. It states, in pertinent part: Services provided by a telecommunications company that provides noncompetitive services shall be priced to ensure that the service's revenues from sale of the service recover the total service long-run incremental cost of providing that service, except as provided in this section. Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 37-15-402(a) [5] (emphasis added). To interpret this provision, we look first to the plain and ordinary meaning of the words in the statute and decide, as a matter of law, whether the statute is clear or ambiguous. Powder River Coal Co. v. State Bd. of Equalization, 2002 WY 5, ¶ 6, 38 P.3d 423, 426 (Wyo.2002). A statute is clear and unambiguous if its wording is such that reasonable persons are able to agree on its meaning with consistency and predictability. Id. A statute is ambiguous if it is found to be vague or uncertain and subject to varying interpretations. RME Petroleum Co. v. Wyoming Dep't of Revenue, 2007 WY 16, ¶ 25, 150 P.3d 673, 683 (Wyo.2007). [¶ 24] Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 37-15-402(a) is clear and unambiguous. The emphasized language  services shall be priced to recover TSLRIC costs  is susceptible to only one reasonable interpretation. The pricing requirement applies to services, with no distinction between competitive and noncompetitive services. Having determined that the statutory language is clear, we simply give effect to that language. RME Petroleum Co., ¶ 25, 150 P.3d at 683. The effect is that both competitive and noncompetitive services must be priced to recover TSLRIC costs. [¶ 25] The contrary interpretation would require inserting an extra word into the statute, to wit: noncompetitive services shall be priced to recover TSLRIC costs. The legislature can, and did, distinguish between competitive and noncompetitive markets for some purposes. In this same statute, for example, the legislature applied the TSLRIC Study requirement only to companies that provide noncompetitive services. The legislature did not make that distinction when it said services shall be priced to recover TSLRIC costs. When the legislature specifically uses a word in one place, we will not interpret that word into other places where it was not used. In re Adoption of Voss, Wyo., 550 P.2d 481, 485 (1976). [¶ 26] Qwest contends that Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 37-15-202(a) prohibits the PSC from requiring TSLRIC Studies for competitive markets. However, acceptance of that interpretation would render meaningless the pricing requirement of Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 37-15-402(a). If the PSC cannot require TSLRIC Studies for competitive markets, it cannot determine if competitive services are priced to recover TSLRIC costs. We decline such an interpretation, and interpret Wyo. Stat. Ann § 37-15-202(a) as prohibiting the PSC from regulating prices in competitive markets, but not prohibiting the PSC from requiring TSLRIC Studies for competitive markets for purposes other than regulating prices. [6] [¶ 27] This interpretation also harmonizes with other provisions of the Act. For example, as stated in another provision of the Act, Revenues obtained from noncompetitive telecommunications services may not be used to subsidize competitive services. Revenues from competitive telecommunications services may not be used to subsidize noncompetitive telecommunications services. Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 37-15-403(a). [7] TSLRIC Studies would allow the PSC to determine if prices in a competitive market are too low, and subsidized by high prices in a noncompetitive market. It seems obvious that, if the PSC could not require TSLRIC Studies for competitive services, it would get only half the information it needs to enforce the statutory prohibition against cross-subsidization. Again, the more harmonious interpretation of the various sections of the Act is that the PSC has authority to require TSLRIC Studies for competitive markets, and to use them for purposes other than direct regulation of prices. [¶ 28] Qwest relies on US West Communications, Inc. v. Wyoming Public Service Comm'n, 15 P.3d 722 (Wyo.2000), for the proposition that allowing the PSC to regulate competitive services is contrary to the Act's purpose of promoting competitive services. While the US West case does contain broad language to that effect, the ruling viewed in context is much narrower. The Court ruled that the PSC lacked authority to regulate competitive services under the specific provisions of Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 37-15-404(a). It did not rule that the PSC lacks authority to regulate competitive services for any and every purpose. [¶ 29] In sum, we read the various sections of the Act in harmony, and interpret them as providing the PSC authority to require TSLRIC Studies for both competitive and noncompetitive markets. Under Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 37-15-202(a), the PSC may not regulate prices in competitive markets. That does not mean the PSC may not require TSLRIC Studies for competitive markets, because the Act authorizes the PSC to use TSLRIC Studies for purposes other than regulating prices. The PSC did not exceed its statutory authority when it ordered Qwest to prepare and submit an exchange-specific TSLRIC Study for the Afton Exchange.