Vermont Public Service Board Considering Delay of FairPoint Regulation Plan Amid Service Quality Investigation
The Vermont Public Service Board (PSB) said Tuesday it's considering delaying a vote on a new incentive regulation plan (IRP) for FairPoint Communications while the board does a separate investigation into issues with FairPoint’s service quality in the state. The PSB is required to issue findings on service quality as part of issuing a new IRP. The PSB is initiating the service quality investigation in response to more than 450 consumer complaints between July and the end of November, along with a Nov. 28 outage that partially knocked out connectivity to Vermont’s 911 system (see 1412050055).
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FairPoint counsel Peter Zamore of Sheehey Furlong said during a PSB hearing that he opposed delaying the new IRP. The new IRP, which the PSB had been considering before opening up the service quality investigation, would essentially replicate the state’s current IRP for FairPoint, which allows the board to regulate FairPoint’s service rates in an alternate way from a traditional cost-of-service regulation. FairPoint’s current IRP expires Dec. 31, and letting it expire without approving the new IRP would open the door to FairPoint's facing a more traditional form of regulation, Zamore said.
The Vermont Department of Public Service “continues to support” the new FairPoint IRP and opposes delaying board consideration of the IRP, DPS Telecom Division Director Jim Porter said. “Obviously DPS finds the current provision of service quality unacceptable,” but current metrics on service quality in the new IRP are sufficient to move forward, Porter said. “We don’t want to wake up on Jan. 1 and have FairPoint revert back to traditional regulation.” DPS would support temporarily extending the current IRP if the PSB decides to delay consideration of the new plan, Porter said.
PSB said it's still considering how broad the scope of its FairPoint investigation will be, but it will include the Nov. 28 911 outage. DPS is proposing investigating other service quality issues, including consumer complaints about billing problems, untimely service appointments and incorrect service disconnections. The current schedule for the investigation would include a Jan. 22 technical hearing, with earlier deadlines for filing testimony and requests for discovery. The PSB plans to issue an order on finalizing the investigation schedule, including a deadline for parties to seek intervener status in the investigation. The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 2326 has already filed as an intervener in the investigation, while Intrado said it also plans to file as an intervener.