Joint Use & Pole Attachments

Balch & Bingham has represented electric utility clients in regulatory matters, litigated disputes and contract negotiations since its inception. A natural outgrowth of this representation was significant work in the unique, often regulated relationship between electric utilities (as pole owners) and cable/communications companies (as third-party attachers). Through the years, Balch & Bingham attorneys have advocated the interests of electric utility clients on joint use and pole attachment matters before state and federal regulatory bodies, before legislators, in contract negotiations with attachers, and at the trial and appellate levels in both state and federal courts. Balch & Bingham attorneys also work as “team members” with joint use professionals on a wide variety of issues, ranging from day-to-day counseling to long term planning.

Balch & Bingham understands how joint use fits into a utility’s portfolio from a business, regulatory, engineering and political perspective. Specific areas of joint use practice include the following:

Contract Negotiation
FCC Complaint Proceedings
Rulemaking Comments/Evidence
Substantive Support to lobbying efforts
Policy Development
Regulatory Compliance
Audit Planning/Implementation
Standards Development
Smart Grid Implementation
Contract Management
Collection Actions
Rate Strategies
Trial and Appellate Work
Process Development/Implementation
State Regulatory Proceedings

Joint use is a dynamic field. Over the past decade, there have been significant changes in both the legal and business relationships between electric utilities and communications companies. Balch & Bingham works with its joint use clients to navigate the regulatory, legislative and practical maze in a way that comports with the business strategies and objectives of our clients. Balch & Bingham looks for opportunities to maximize joint use revenue and protect the company’s distribution assets (and telecom interests, where applicable) while evaluating the risk/reward of certain actions.

Different electric utilities have different priorities. What may be a “hot” issue to one utility may be a non-issue to another. From our perspective, the “hot” issues are the issues which are, or soon may be, important to our clients. The issues we are currently following on a national level include:

The implementation of the FCC's April 2011 pole attachments order
The appellate challenges to portions of the FCC's April 2011 pole attachments order
The shifting sands in traditional joint use relationships between electric utilities and incumbent local exchange telephone companies
The renewed focus on pole top wireless antenna attachments, including access parameters and rate development
The implementation of Smart Grid technologies and its impact on pole attachment issues
State-level efforts to regulate the rates, terms and conditions of access to poles owned by electric cooperatives and municipalities
The potential for "new" states to join the list of states which regulate pole attachments
The regulatory classification of broadband, and broadband enabled service like Voice over Internet Protocol (“VoIP”).

REPRESENTATIVE MATTERS

Contract Negotiation: worked with numerous electric utilities on negotiation of joint use and pole attachment agreements, including negotiation with state cable associations on state-wide, uniform agreements
Rulemaking Proceedings: work with numerous electric utilities on strategy, written comments and ex parte communications in FCC pole attachment rulemaking proceedings
Appellate Work: work with numerous electric utilities on various appeals of pole attachment matters, ranging from appeals of complaint proceeding decisions to appeals of final orders in rulemaking proceedings
Rate Strategies: work with numerous electric utilities on development of pole attachment and joint use rates for various types of attachments, including both regulated and unregulated relationships

To subscribe to the Balch & Bingham Joint Use Newsletter, please click

RELATED PRACTICES

Joint Use & Pole Attachments

SPEECHES

September 2008	"Code Compliance & The Consequences of Joint Use" Western Energy Institute Joint Use Conference Salt Lake City, Utah Speaking Engagements
November 2008	"The Anatomy of a Pole Attachment Contract" Heartland Joint Use Meeting Akron, Ohio Speaking Engagements
May 2008	"Code Compliance & The Consequences of Joint Use" Heartland Joint Use Meeting Toledo, Ohio Speaking Engagements
May 2011	"FCC Pole Attachments Rate Regulation: A New World Order?" Southeastern Electric Exchange Rates & Regulations Section Meeting Atlanta, Georgia Speaking Engagements
October 2006	"Fibertech Rulemaking Petition" and "FCTA v. Gulf Power FCC Proceeding" Southeastern Electric Exchange Joint Use Committee Meeting Richmond, Virginia Speaking Engagements
August 2006	"Gulf Power v. FCC: What is a Rivalrous Pole?" Utilities Telecom Council Joint Use & Rights of Way Workshop Atlanta, Georgia Speaking Engagements
June 2010	"Is the Broadband Policy Tail Wagging the Electric Infrastructure Dog?" Southeastern Electric Exchange Annual Meeting Miami, Florida Speaking Engagements
November 2009	"Issues at the FCC" Heartland Joint Use Webinar Speaking Engagements
May 2009	"Joint Use Conflict: Sources & Solutions" Heartland Joint Use Meeting Plainfield, Indiana Speaking Engagements
April 2010	"Joint Use, Pole Attachments, Broadband and Telecommunications in America: The State of the Union" Co-presenter at Southeastern Electric Exchange Joint Use Committee Meeting Charleston, South Carolina Speaking Engagements
July 2007	"Just Compensation: What is the True Value of a Pole Attachment" Utilities Telecom Council Joint Use & Rights of Way Conference Washington, D.C. Speaking Engagements
June 2009	"Pole Attachment Agreements and Why They Matter" Georgia EMC Counsel Association's Annual Meeting Ponte Verde, Florida Speaking Engagements
November 2009	"Pole Attachment State Regulatory Issues" UTC Joint Use Workshop (co-presenter) Arlington, Virginia Speaking Engagements
August 2008	"Recent Pole Attachment Legislative Efforts" Rural Electric Statewide Manager Association Lobby Clinic Orange Beach, Alabama Speaking Engagements
June 2008	"Straight Talk on Tough Infrastructure Access Issues" Co-presenter at Southeastern Electric Exchange Annual Meeting New Orleans, Louisiana Speaking Engagements
October 2010	"The FCC's Pole Attachment FNPRM: What a Long Strange Trip It's Been" Co-Presenter and Panelist, Southeastern Electric Exchange Joint Use Committee Meeting Asheville, North Carolina Speaking Engagements
May 2007	"The Florida Hardening Docket: Joint Use Impact & Implications" Heartland Joint Use Meeting Brecksville, Ohio Speaking Engagements
October 2006	"The Florida Hardening Docket: Third Party Attachment Standards" Heartland Joint Use Meeting Plainfield, Indiana Speaking Engagements
August 2006	"The Florida Hardening Docket: Third Party Attachment Standards" Utilities Telecom Council, Joint Use/ROW Workshop Atlanta, Georgia Speaking Engagements
September 2006	"The Florida Hardening Docket: Third Party Attachment Standards" Western Energy Institute Joint Use Meeting Las Vegas, Nevada Speaking Engagements
May 2010	"The National Broadband Plan: Overview and Potential Impacts on Joint Use & Pole Attachments" Florida Utilities Coordinating Committee Cape Canaveral, Florida Speaking Engagements
October 2005	"What is a Rivalrous Pole?" Southeastern Electric Exchange Joint Use Committee Meeting Charlottesville, Virginia Speaking Engagements
October 2009	Co-presenter and Panelist "Broadband in America (and on our Poles)" Southeastern Electric Exchange Joint Use Committee Meeting Oklahoma City, Oklahoma Speaking Engagements
April 2009	Co-presenter and Panelist "Staying Out From Under the Broadband Bus" Southeastern Electric Exchange Joint Use Committee Meeting Williamsburg, Virginia Speaking Engagements
January 13, 2011	Expanding the Scope of Pole Attachments: Views from IOU's, Muni's, Co-ops, and ILECs Speaking Engagements Dallas, TX
January 2007	Moderator and Panelist, "Energy Contracts in Context: The Ninth Circuit Revisits Mobile-Sierra Review in Light of the Western Energy Crisis" American Bar Association Washington, D.C. Speaking Engagements
May 2010	Panelist "FCC National Broadband Plan Round Table" Heartland Joint Use Meeting Columbus, Ohio Speaking Engagements
May, 2011	Panelist, "Countdown: The Five Biggest Legal Issues of the Day" Heartland Joint Use Meeting Detroit, Michigan Speaking Engagements
October 2011	Panelist, "An Interactive Discussion of the Hot Issues in Joint Use & Pole Attachments" Southeastern Electric Exchange Joint Use Committee Meeting Columbus, Ohio Speaking Engagements
October 2010	Panelist, "A Spirited Discussion of Today's Joint Use Issues" Heartland Joint Use Meeting Columbus, Ohio Speaking Engagements
October 2008	Panelist, "Learning Forum" Southeastern Electric Exchange Joint Use Committee Meeting Annapolis, Maryland Speaking Engagements
October 2007	Panelist, "Learning Forum" Southeastern Electric Exchange Joint Use Committee Meeting Destin, Florida Speaking Engagements
April 2008	Panelist, "Learning Forum: Problems Now & Problems Later" and "Miscellaneous Attachments" Southeastern Electric Exchange Joint Use Committee Meeting Orlando, Florida Speaking Engagements
September 2010	Panelist, "Legal Forum" Western Energy Institute Joint Use Conference Vancouver, Washington Speaking Engagements
September 2009	Panelist, "Legal Forum" Western Energy Institute Joint Use Conference Boise, Idaho Speaking Engagements
October 2008	Panelist, "Legal/Regulatory Panel" Utilities Telecom Council Joint Use & Pole Attachments Conference Phoenix, Arizona Speaking Engagements
February 2008	Panelist, "Pole Attachments: Who Pays What and Who Has Access?" National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners, Winter Meeting Washington, DC Speaking Engagements
September 2007	Panelist, "The Best Regulatory Panel Ever" and "Florida Hardening Docket: Collision of State & Federal Regulation" Western Energy Institute Joint Use Meeting Big Sky, Montana Speaking Engagements
April 2011	Panelist, "Legal Panel" Southeastern Electric Exchange Joint Use Committee Meeting Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Speaking Engagements
July 2010	Panelist,"The FCC's New Pole Attachment Rules: Key Issues and Implications" Law Seminars International Telebriefing Speaking Engagements
September 2009	PowerTable, "Code Compliance & The Consequences of Joint Use" Western Energy Institute Joint Use Conference Boise, Idaho Speaking Engagements
September 2008	PowerTable, "Code Compliance & the Consequences of Joint Use" Western Energy Institute Joint Use Conference Salt Lake City, Utah Speaking Engagements
October 6, 2010	WEI Rountable Presentation - The FCC Rate Battle: What Does It All Mean? Speaking Engagements Seattle, Washington
October 6, 2010	WEI Soap Box - What Are Your Rights/Responsibilties As a Pole Owner/Licensee? Speaking Engagements Seattle, Washington