Joint-use of Power Poles Raises Safety Concerns

November 14, 2013

A recent court settlement in California has sent a message to communications companies who have joint-use arrangements with power companies.

The lawsuit was settled for more than $63.5 million with the state of California as a result of the October 21, 2007, Malibu Canyon fire that burned 3,836 acres, damaged 36 vehicles and 33 structures, including Castle Kashan and the Malibu Presbyterian Church. On October 21, 2007, three power poles next to Malibu Canyon Road failed in heavy Santa Ana winds and ignited dry brush nearby. The results of the forensic investigation indicated that the pole may have failed from being overloaded with communications equipment.

The lawsuit, brought by the state of California, was against Verizon, AT&T, NextG and Sprint, and was the result of what California calls “sub-par attachments and pole overloading.” In addition, The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) last week approved a $12 million settlement with the three cellphone companies for their involvement in the cause of the fire.

Of the $12 million settlement, $6.9 million will be paid to the State of California’s general fund. The remainder, $5.1 million, will be spent on replacing existing wooden power poles along the 3.4 miles of lower Malibu Canyon. Another portion will be spent on an independent safety survey to study a representative sample of Southern California Edison power poles across its 50,000-square-mile service area. The intent of the study, according to the settlement, is to determine the severity of the problem with pole overloading, a practice that was blamed for a power outage in the San Gabriel Valley in Fall 2011 when a windstorm blew over more than 200 Edison power poles.

As part of the settlement Southern California Edison will be required to conduct safety assessments of all its poles in the Malibu area by March 2015. Any non-conforming poles are required to be upgraded within two years following the assessment. The communications companies must also inspect any poles that are in joint-use for safety violations and bring them up to standard. Edison has placed the highest priority on 151 poles along Malibu Canyon Road stretching from Pacific Coast Highway to Mulholland Highway. Other high-priority areas include Topanga Canyon Boulevard (232 poles), Mulholland Highway (335 poles), Latigo Canyon Road, Kanan Dume Road and “Malibu area high-fire and high-wind areas” (735 poles).

All of the involved companies have begun to implement inspection procedures. NextG is required to audit approximately 30,000 pole attachments in Edison territory and 30,000 non-Edison attachments by November 18. After the audit, NextG must upgrade subpar attachments within three years, according to documents. AT&T, Sprint and Verizon began their utility pole assessments along Malibu Canyon Road in May 2013, according to documents obtained by The Malibu Times.

In addition, AT&T, Sprint and Verizon have inspected their poles and found 92 of them, located along a 3.38 mile stretch of Malibu Canyon, will need to have upgrades to be compliant with the safety standards in place. The phone companies are also in the process of surveying all of their joint-use poles ( 2,000 poles) in Southern California Edison’s service territory. Any poles found to be overloaded with equipment must be brought into compliance as well.

The three cellphone companies, AT&T, Sprint and Verizon Wireless, continue to deny the allegations. However, the companies agreed at a meeting to pay the state $4 million each in a settlement. Southern California Edison and NextG still face a trial and $74 million in fines proposed by state investigators for their role in the fire.