Utilities Push Back on FCC’s 30-Day Pole Contractor Approval Rule

WASHINGTON, May 21, 2026 – Contractor backlogs and rising construction costs are holding up broadband deployment on utility poles, major electric utilities told Federal Communications Commission staff.

Representatives from American Electric Power, Alabama Power, CenterPoint Energy, Ameren, Duke Energy, Entergy and Oncor Electric met with Marcus Maher , senior legal advisor to FCC Commissioner Olivia Trusty last week, to discuss issues raised in the FCC's July 2025 pole attachment rulemaking proceeding.

The utilities said contractor onboarding can be lengthy because it involves vetting, contract negotiations, employee credentialing, system integration and utility-specific training, parts of which fall outside the utility's control.

The filing comes as the FCC implements pole attachment reforms that took effect earlier this month, including new timelines for contractor approvals and make-ready work stemming from the agency's July 2025 order.

The order required utilities to respond to contractor approval requests within 30 days as part of a broader push to speed broadband deployment tied to federally funded infrastructure projects.

“The onboarding process is not only essential to preserving the safety and reliability of the electric distribution system, but also essential to efficient broadband deployment,” the utilities said in an ex parte filing submitted Friday.

The companies backed a proposal from ACA Connects that utilities apply the same contractor onboarding process for broadband attachers that they use for their own contractors.

The utilities also defended the use of make-ready construction true-up invoices, arguing that actual costs often exceed initial estimates because of weather conditions, underground rock boring, labor fluctuations and unforeseen field conditions.

The filing said construction crews often do not know costs have exceeded estimates until projects are completed and work orders are closed, making advance approval of higher costs impractical.

“Unless an electric utility recovers the actual cost of the make-ready work, its electric customers will end up subsidizing the broadband deployment project,” the utilities said. “This is not only unfair to electric customers but also inconsistent with the Commission's cost causation principles.”