20061005final_order_no_30140.pdf

Office of the Secretary
Service Date
October 5, 2006
BEFORE THE IDAHO PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION
IN THE MATTER OF THE INVESTIGATION
OF RURAL TELEPHONE COMPANY'
COMPLIANCE WITH COMMISSION RULES CASE NO. RUR-06-
ORDER NO. 30140
On December 13 , 2005, a formal complaint was filed with the Commission by
Merlin and Judith Lords regarding telephone service provided them by Rural Telephone
Company. On several occasions beginning in November and December 2005 , Rural
Telephone s customers in Atlanta, Idaho were without long-distance and 911 service. The Lords
and other customers complained to the Company, and as a result, the Company on December 15
2005 sent a letter to customers apologizing for the inconvenience caused by service outages. The
Company explained that heavy snowfall in the Atlanta area caused the outages and delayed
repairs by the Company. The Company voluntarily waived its montWy local service charge for
customers for January 2006.
Despite the Company s response in its December 15 letter, the Lords and other
customers pursued their complaint to the Commission, alleging that Rural Telephone is not in
compliance with the Commission s Telephone Customer Relations Rules. Accordingly, on
January 26, 2006, the Commission issued Order No. 29964 opening an investigation into issues
raised by the complaints. The Commission in Order No. 29964 directed the Company to respond
to six questions.
On August 25 , 2006, the Commission Staff completed its investigation and filed a
written report with the Commission. In addition, Staff provided a copy of the report to the
telephone company and the Lords, and notified the parties that the Staff would ask the
Commission to approve the report and its recommendations at a decision meeting on September
, 2006. Staff invited the parties to file written responses regarding the report no later than
September 20, 2006, so that the Commission could also consider those comments at the decision
meeting. Neither the Company nor the Lords responded to the report filed by Staff.
Rural Telephone provides service to 37 customers in Atlanta, Idaho which, as Staff
noted in its report
, "
is in a remote location and not easily accessible.Rural provides local
ORDER NO. 30140
servIce through its own central office switch in Atlanta.Long-distance and 911 servIces
however, are provided over a Qwest Corporation T -1 circuit that originates in Boise. Long-
distance and 911 signals are sent by microwave carrier from Qwest's Deer Point site to Rural'
Prairie central office. The signals then travel to a microwave repeater on Trinity Mountain
continue from Trinity Mountain to the James Creek Summit microwave repeater, and then on to
the central office in Atlanta. Rural's microwave repeaters at Trinity Mountain and James Creek
Summit are powered by batteries that are charged by solar panels.
Snow on the solar panels caused the service outages last winter. Heavy snowstorms
in December deposited snow on the solar panels, preventing them from charging the batteries
that operate the microwave repeaters. The Staff Report describes the procedures the Company
follows before dispatching technicians to the repeater sites in adverse weather conditions. First
Company technicians assess the avalanche danger by reviewing information on an avalanche
warning website.Then
, "
once the technicians have been dispatched, they travel as far as
conditions allow and make onsite visual assessments of travel and avalanche conditions to
determine potential risk." Staff Report p. 5. When the outages occurred in December 2005 and
January 2006, snowstorms and avalanche risks prevented Company technicians from reaching
the microwave repeaters. The Company also made several attempts to access the Trinity
Mountain location by helicopter, but high winds prevented the helicopter from landing.
Because of the weather conditions, the Company was unable to reach the repeater
locations and clear the solar panels, and the batteries were expended. As a result, the Atlanta
customers were without long-distance telephone service and 911 service during three periods in
November and December 2005 , and early January 2006. In response to customer complaints
Rural provided a local service credit to the Atlanta customers for January 2006. The Company
has taken steps to help prevent similar problems in the future. The position of the solar panels at
the repeater sites has been adjusted to improve the effect of solar rays on the panels. In addition
Rural has installed or will install small wind turbines at the repeater sites to generate electricity
as a backup source of energy to the solar panels.
The Commission finds that the efforts taken by Rural to clear the solar panels last
winter were reasonable. The snowstorms were particularly heavy in the Atlanta area, and the
terrain is unspoiled and rugged. The facilities required to provide long-distance service to the
Atlanta customers are, by necessity, located in remote locations not easily accessed, especially in
ORDER NO. 30140
adverse weather conditions. The Company made several attempts to reach the solar panels by
snowmobile or helicopter, and we find these efforts to restore long-distance and 911 service were
reasonable under the circumstances. We also find the Company has taken reasonable steps to
reduce the possibility of similar outages in the future. Principally, the installation of wind
generators to serve as a back-up power source should help minimize similar outages.
Despite reasonable efforts by Rural to address the weather related problems that
occurred last winter, Staff made specific recommendations to improve service to the Atlanta
customers. For example, part of the customers' complaints stem from a lack of communication
regarding the outages. Customers attempting long-distance calls during the outages received an
all circuits busy" message, leading customers to believe network congestion was preventing
their calls. Staff recommended the Company change its message to simply notify customers that
long-distance service is currently not available.
Realizing it may not be possible to altogether eliminate the effects of weather on
Rural's facilities, the Commission finds it reasonable and appropriate to adopt Staff s
recommendations to minimize similar outages during winter snowstorms and provide better
communication to customers and the Commission. First, Rural should check the batteries at the
repeater sites to ensure they will provide maximum service if the solar panels become
inoperable. Rural must report to the Commission that the new backup wind generators have
been installed and are operable. The "all circuits are busy" message must be changed so that
customers are not led to believe that network congestion is the cause of long-distance outages.
Rural must comply with Commission rules regarding repair records, including closing trouble
tickets when repairs are completed and documenting outages affecting multiple customers. See
IDAPA 31.41.01.503. Finally, Rural must provide a report to the Commission on service
outages affecting multiple customers that last longer than 24 hours.
The Commission in Order No. 29964 also directed Rural to respond to a question
regarding the classification of local service. The question was unrelated to the winter service
outages, but nonetheless was raised by customers in complaints filed with the Commission.
Specifically, the Commission asked:How does the Company ensure it properly identifies
customers as residential or business in compliance with the terms of its tariff? Staff reviewed the
Company s practice to determine whether a residential service should be reclassified as a
business service, and concluded "the Company does appear to follow its tariff by applying a
ORDER NO. 30140
business rate if the line is determined to be used for business purposes.Staff Report p. 12.
There is a discrepancy, however, between the business use standards in the Company s tariff and
the Commission s Telephone Customer Relations Rules IDAPA 31.41.01 et seq.The
Company s tariff allows reclassification of a residential line if there is any business use at all on
the line, while the Customer Relations Rules provides for a residential classification if it is used
at a dwelling primarily for personal or domestic purposes and not for business, professional or
institutional purposes.IDAP A 31.41.01.005.09. The Commission rule thus allows some
incidental business use of residential telecommunications service without requiring that it be
reclassified as business service. Rural is directed to revise its tariff to be consistent with the
Commission s Telephone Customer Relations Rules regarding the classification of residential
and business service.
Rural clearly faces challenges unlike those in urban areas as it provides
telecommunications services to its Atlanta customers. Under the circumstances, we find that
Rural acted prudently to restore long-distance and 911 service when heavy snowfall caused
outages last winter. We nonetheless also find it reasonable to direct the Company to take the
steps set forth in this Order to help reduce the potential for similar outages and provide better
communication to customers and the Commission. The Commission acknowledges and thanks
the Company for its cooperation in this investigation.
ORDER
IT IS THEREFORE ORDERED that Rural, (1) as part of its regular maintenance
check the batteries at the repeater sites to ensure they will provide maximum service if the solar
panels become inoperable; (2) report to the Commission that the new backup wind generators
have been installed and are operable; (3) change the "all circuits are busy" message so that
customers are not led to believe that network congestion is the cause of long-distance outages;
(4) comply with Commission rules regarding repair records, including closing trouble tickets
when repairs are completed and documenting outages affecting multiple customers (See IDAP
31.41.01.503); and (5) provide a report to the Commission on service outages affecting multiple
customers that last longer than 24 hours.
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that Rural revise its tariff to be consistent with the
Commission s Telephone Customer Relations Rules regarding the classification of residential
and business service.
ORDER NO. 30140
THIS IS A FINAL ORDER. Any person interested in this Order may petition for
reconsideration within twenty-one (21) days of the service date of this Order. Within seven (7)
days after any person has petitioned for reconsideration, any other person may cross-petition for
reconsideration. See Idaho Code S 61-626.
DONE by Order of the Idaho Public Utilities Commission at Boise, Idaho this iff/...
day of October 2006.
LJ&~
MARSHA H. SMITH, COMMISSIONER
~d~R
ATTEST:
Je6.~ D. Jewell.
C~inmission Secretary
bls/O:RUR-06-01 ws2
ORDER NO. 30140