2. Background
General Order (GO) 95 governs the construction of overhead electric power lines (also referred to as "supply lines" and "supply conductors") and communications lines (also referred to as "communications conductors").
In Decision (D.) 07-02-030, the Commission amended GO 95 to include standards for wireless antennas installed on joint-use poles below supply lines.2 Explicitly excluded from the scope of D.07-02-030 were "pole-top antennas," which are wireless antennas attached to utility poles at a point between or above supply lines.3
In July 2007, the GO 95/128 Rules Committee (Rules Committee)4 filed Petition (P.) 07-07-020 to initiate a rulemaking proceeding for the purpose of amending GO 95 to include construction standards for pole-top antennas installed on joint-use utility poles with supply lines operating at zero to 50,000 volts. Attached to the Petition were proposed revisions to GO 95.
Although the proposed revisions represented a "consensus" of the Rules Committee, the petition noted that the committee did not reach full and complete agreement on the rules pertaining to vertical clearances.
The Commission's Consumer Protection and Safety Division (CPSD) filed a response to the Petition in which CPSD expressed concerns about some of the proposed standards. CPSD was particularly concerned that the standards did not require sufficient insulation on antenna cables that pass by supply lines.
In response to the Petition, the Commission issued Order Instituting Rulemaking (OIR) 07-12-001 to consider the proposed revisions to GO 95 attached to the Petition as well as CPSD's response, and whether the proposed changes adequately address safety measures and system reliability for pole-top antenna installations.
Opening comments were filed on January 14, 2008, by ExteNet and NewPath (jointly), Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E), Southern California Edison Company (SCE), San Diego Gas & Electric Company (SDG&E), and the Wireless Parties. Reply comments were filed on February 15, 2008 by AT&T - California, the California Municipal Utility Association (CMUA), CPSD, PacifiCorp, PG&E, SCE, and SDG&E.
A Prehearing Conference (PHC) was held on March 5, 2008, and a Scoping Memo and Ruling of the Assigned Commissioner (Scoping Memo) was issued on March 21, 2008. The Scoping Memo limited the scope of the instant proceeding to the proposed revisions to GO 95 attached to the OIR. Antenna installations on towers (defined in GO 95, Rule 22.1-C) were excluded from the proceeding. The Scoping Memo emphasized that any construction standards adopted in this proceeding must protect the safety of utility workers and the public.
The Scoping Memo identified two major disputes among the parties. One dispute concerned the minimum vertical clearances between pole-top antennas and supply lines. The electric utilities supported the vertical clearances proposed in the OIR, while parties representing various wireless interests believed the proposed vertical clearances could be reduced safely. The second dispute concerned the amount of insulation on antenna cables that pass by supply lines. To resolve these disputes, the Scoping Memo directed the parties to convene a series of technical conferences.
The parties held a two-day technical conference in San Francisco, a one-day technical conference in San Diego, and an additional one-day technical conference in San Francisco to discuss the proposed revisions to GO 95 appended to the OIR and to resolve disputes regarding the proposed revisions. The parties participating in the technical conferences were AT&T - California, AT&T Mobility, the California Cable & Telecommunications Association (CCTA), CMUA, City of Anaheim, CPSD, Crown Castle USA, ExteNet Systems, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) 47, IBEW 1245, the Northern California Power Agency, NewPath Networks, NextG Networks, PacifiCorp, PG&E, SDG&E, SCE, Sprint-Nextel, Time Warner Cable, T-Mobile, Verizon Wireless, and Verizon - California.
On May 16, 2008, SCE filed the Technical Conference Report (TCR) on behalf of the technical-conference participants that (1) describes the agreement on construction standards for pole-top antennas that was reached during the technical conferences; and (2) provides text and diagrams for revising GO 95 to incorporate the construction standards.5 Opening comments regarding the TCR were filed on May 27, 2008, by CCTA, the Joint Municipal Parties, PacifiCorp, PG&E, SCE, SDG&E, and the Wireless Parties.6 Reply comments were filed on June 6, 2008, by AT&T California, PG&E, SCE, SDG&E, and the Wireless Parties.
2 "Joint-use poles" refers to poles that are occupied by circuits with different ownership or different types of circuits with the same ownership. For example, a joint-use pole could be occupied by electric wires owned by an electric utility, telecommunications circuits owned by a telephone company, and cable circuits owned by a cable service provider. (See GO 95, Rule 21.8.)
3 D.07-02-030, pp. 9-10 and Appendix 1.
4 The Rules Committee is comprised of California communications and supply professionals knowledgeable in the application of GO 95 and GO 128 who meet regularly to review, rewrite, and submit for adoption changes to GO 95 and GO 128.
5 See Submission of Pole-Top Antennas Workshop Report by Southern California Edison Company (U 338-E) on Behalf of Workshop Participants dated May 16, 2008.
6 The parties that comprise the Joint Municipal Parties and the Wireless Parties are listed later in this Decision.
