State of Utah

Administrative Rule Analysis

NOTICE OF PROPOSED RULE OR CHANGE

The agency identified below in box 1 provides notice of proposed rule or change pursuant to Utah Code Subsections 63-46a-4(2) and (4). Please address questions regarding information on this notice to the agency. The full text of all rule filings is published in the Utah State Bulletin unless excluded because of space constraints. The full text of all rule filings may also be inspected at the Division of Administrative Rules.

State of Utah

Division of Administrative Rules (DAR)

4120 State Office Building; 450 North Main

PO Box 141007

Salt Lake City, UT 84114-1007

Phone: (801) 538-3218, FAX: (801) 538-1773

State E-mail: asdomain.asitmain.rules

DAR file no.:

Utah Admin. Code ref. (R no.):

R746-345

Date filed:

Time filed:

Received by:

1.Department:

Public Service Commission of Utah

Agency:

Administration

Room no., building:

Heber M. Wells Building, 4th Floor

Street address:

160 East 300 South

Mailing address:

P.O. Box 84145

City, state ZIP:

Salt Lake City, UT 84145

Contact person:

Barbara Stroud

Telephone:

(801) 530-6716

FAX:

(801) 530-6796

Internet E-mail:

pupsc.bstroud@state.ut.us

(Interested persons may inspect this filing at the above address or at DAR between 8:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. on business days.)

2.Title of rule or section (catchline):

Pole Attachments of Public Utility Companies

3.Type of notice:

Proposed rules

New

Amendment

Repeal

Repeal and reenact

Other rule types

X

Change in proposed rule(changes original proposed rule file no.:

)

4.Purpose of the rule or reason for the change:

This change in proposed rule incorporates comments and suggestions made by commentors in the initial comment period.

5.This rule or change is a response to comments by the Administrative Rules Review Committee.

Yes

X

No

6.Summary of the rule or change:

This change clarifies definitions; clarifies that the rental charge applies for each attachment, not per pole; and clarifies when net or gross cost is to be used in calculating charges. (DAR NOTE: This change in proposed rule has been filed to make additional changes to a proposed repeal and reenactment that was published in the September 1, 2004, issue of the Utah State Bulletin, on page 29. Underlining in the rule below indicates text that has been added since the publication of the proposed rule mentioned above; strike-out indicates text that has been deleted. You must view the change in proposed rule and the proposed repeal and reenactment together to understand all of the changes that will be enforceable should the agency make this rule effective.)

7.Aggregate anticipated cost or savings to:

State budget:

None--State agency activity in relation to pole attachment activities will stay the same.

Local government:

None--Local government activities are not affected by this rule.

Other persons:

Undeterminable--To the extent that rates set in the rule are lower than those previously charged, revenue reductions will occur for those entities which previously charged the higher rate; this will be offset by a reduction in costs or expenses of those entities who previously paid the higher rate. A concomitant change will occur in situations where the rule sets a rate higher than that previously charged. These changes in revenues and expenses may be considered by the Commission when establishing other rates for the public utilities subject to the Commission's jurisdiction. The magnitude of the changes will also be subject to the number of attachments which are affected and in existence. There is significant dispute between pole attachment parties on the number of pole attachments which they have among themselves. Inventory is still occurring and disputes are still pending before the Commission.

8.Compliance costs for affected persons ("person" means any individual, partnership, corporation, association, governmental entity, or public or private organization of any character other than an agency):

As noted under Other persons above, offsetting increases and decreases will occur. Some entities will see a reduction in revenues they receive from attaching entities, but will also see a reduction in their own expenses for the attachment costs they incur for their own attachments with other pole owning entities. To the extent permitted by law, the Commission intends to consider the net effect of such changes when establishing rates for utilities operating within the Commission's jurisdiction.

9.Comments by the department head on the fiscal impact the rule may have on businesses:

Through state and federal law, the Commission regulates the terms by which attachments are made to the poles of utilities operating in Utah. Changes in the utility industry, increasing reliance upon and access demands for use of available attachment space, and the increasing magnitude of disputes concerning the entire attachment process have prompted the Commission to reexamine, with industry participation, a wide spectrum of issues relating to pole attachments. As is often the case for the Commission, promulgation of the rule requires balancing interests of various parties. The Commission has crafted a rule which it believes is consistent with both state and federal law and sets terms which are conducive to the public interest and well being of the State of Utah and its citizens generally. Where permitted by law, the Commission will consider the specific fiscal impact, whether up or down, the rule will have on the operations of an individual public utility operating in Utah and subject to the Commission's ratemaking authority.

10.This rule or change is authorized or mandated by state law, and implements or interprets the following state and federal laws.

State code or constitution citations (required):

54-3-1, 54-4-1, and 54-4-13; and 47 U.S.C. 224(c)

Federal citations (optional):

11.This rule or change adds or updates an incorporated reference (submit a copy to DAR):

Yes

X

No

Reference title and date of issue or edition:

12.The public may submit written or oral comments to the agency identified in box 1. (The public may also request a hearing by submitting a written request to the agency. The agency is required to hold a hearing if it receives requests from ten interested persons or from an association having not fewer than ten members. Additionally, the request must be received by the agency not more than 15 days after the publication of this rule in the Utah State Bulletin. See Section 63-46a-5 and Rule R15-1 for more information.)

Comments will be accepted until 5:00 p.m. on (mm/dd/yyyy):

12/01/2004

A public hearing (optional) will be held on (mm/dd/yyyy):

at (time):

at (place):

13.This rule or change may become effective on (mm/dd/yyyy):

12/02/04

14.Indexing information - keywords (maximum of four, in lower case):

public utilities, telecommunications, telephone utility regulation, pole attachments

15.Indexing information - affected industries (two-digit SIC codes):

16.Attach a WordPerfect document containing the text of this rule or change (filename):

To the agency: Information requested on this form is required by Sections 63-46a-4, 5, 6, and 10. Incomplete forms may be returned to the agency for completion, possibly delaying publication in the Utah State Bulletin, and delaying the first possible effective date.

AGENCY AUTHORIZATION

Agency head or designee, and title:

Sandy Mooy
Legal Counsel

Date (mm/dd/yyyy):

10/12/2004