Two electric utilities today asked that before Verizon can sell its operations here in New Hampshire, it be compelled to pay its share of telephone pole maintenance costs.
The request came during a hearing before the Public Utilities Commission on Fairpoint’s 2.7 billion dollar bid to buy Verizon’s land lines in New England.
New Hampshire Public Radio’s David Darman has more.
The two companies went before regulators to try and get Verizon to pay about 700,000 dollars in tree trimming expenses from 2004 and 2005.
Verizon Attorney Sarah Knowlton argued that the issue didn’t belong before the Public Utility Commission.
I don’t believe that retrospectively the commission can retrospectively look back at this private contract and make a determination of party’s obligation under it. I just don’t think that’s within the commission’s jurisdiction. And this is an agency of limited jurisdiction. If the legislature hasn’t granted you jurisdiction either expressly or fairly implied, then the commission doesn’t have it.
Verizon’s attorney says the issue more properly belongs in the state’s court system.
But attorneys for Public Service of New Hampshire and Unitil Corporation disagreed.
They said since they and Verizon co owned thousands of telephone poles, it would be plainly fair for Verizon to pay its share of the costs.
PSNH attorney Jerry Eaton argued that his company worries a Fairpoint takeover will let Verizon off the hook.
The merger involves spinning off Verizon assets into a separate corporation. And the results of the merger means there will be no Verizon assets left in the state.
Unitil’s attorney said he couldn’t imagine why the PUC wouldn’t have jurisdiction over the pole controversy.
Gary Eppler said the telephone poles that his company took care of carried the utilities the PUC regulated.
Those include electric companies and traditional phone companies.
Epler also said that Verizon should pay, because the company relies on Unitil and PSNH to cut back overgrown trees from their poles and phone lines.
Verizon does not have a maintenance trimming program for its jointly owned lines. They rely entirely on the maintenance trimming performed by their partners in ownership of those lines. If those partners, the electric companies do not perform the maintenance trimming, they have no means…I mean, they don’t DO that.
The state’s Office of Consumer Advocate staff attorney told the commission her office was siding with the electric companies.
Rorie Hollenberg told regulators that both electric companies had tried to charge their customers for Verizon’s share of the tree trimming costs.
The O-C-A objected to such recovery in those cases and continues to oppose any recovery of these amounts from psnh and unitil’s ratepayers as Verizon ratepayers have already paid these costs through their rates charged by Verizon.
PUC commissioners indicated they might not rule on this matter as part of the review of the Verizon/Fairpoint deal.
They said it might be better suited to a separate case.
They also floated the idea that Verizon place money in escrow until the case was resolved.
But the session ended without any decisions.
The PUC continues its review of the Verizon- Fairpoint deal on Monday.
