🔒CT utility regulator targets backlog of utility-pole removals

The handful of companies that own Connecticut’s hundreds of thousands of utility poles have reported a growing backlog of delays related to removing old poles that potentially pose safety hazards.

The backlog is spurring the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority (PURA) to, for the first time, propose fines against companies that fail to remove poles in a timely manner.

PURA requires pole owners, after they replace a pole, to remove the old nearby pole within a certain time frame — 12 or 18 months, depending on location.

Replacing a pole can involve multiple parties, which has at times slowed down the removal process. PURA says safety is also a factor, as having two poles side-by-side may obstruct driver vision, particularly at intersections.

The regulator has been monitoring the efficiency of pole removals since 2004, when municipalities and others were complaining about a backlog of 22,100 double poles.

Since then, pole owners have greatly reduced the number of double poles that violate PURA’s mandated removal timelines. For example, in 2016, the backlog stood at 2,370, filings show.

However, that jumped to 3,564 in 2017, and then to 6,916 in 2018.

While PURA found violations of its double-pole policy back in 2016, it hasn’t previously issued any fines until now.

The regulator issued nearly $138,000 in fines against pole owners for missing removal deadlines, with the bulk of the fines against Frontier ($69,135) and Eversource ($61,200).

“Penalties at this level are warranted given the long history of double poles in Connecticut and the [owners’] lack of justification … and their lack of any plan for removal,” PURA wrote in a July 2 decision.

Pole owners told PURA they face resource constraints, coordination difficulties and higher priority work.

PURA also plans to ramp up required reporting of double-pole backlogs by pole owners moving forward.