FCC illegally “asserts federal control over municipal utility structures”, court told

19 November 2018 by Steve Blum
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The City of San Jose briefly explained its case against the Federal Communications Commission in a filing with the federal appeals court in Denver last week. San Jose, Los Angeles County and eighteen other western cities joined together to challenge the FCC’s decision to preempt local ownership of streetlights, traffic signals and other municipal property that’s located in the public right of way.

Six other challenges were filed – two by local agencies and associations that represent them, and four by mobile operators who think the FCC wasn’t generous enough.… More

SDG&E shuts off electricity in fire danger areas, possible SCE link to Woolsey blaze ignition

12 November 2018 by Steve Blum
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Update, 13:48, 12 November 2018: SCE has begun proactive shutoffs, according to its website “due to dangerous high winds in Red Flag fire areas, SCE shut off power to roughly 50 customers in the Moorpark area at about 10:50 a.m. this morning”.

Much of California is under a red flag warning this morning. High winds and dangerously dry conditions could mean yet more wildfires, and more trouble for the three major fires already burning. The death toll from the Camp Fire in Butte County rose to 29 overnight, with hundreds of people still missing.… More

Californians must choose between tragedy and inconvenience. It’s not hard

10 November 2018 by Steve Blum
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Three massive wildfires continue to burn this morning in California; one in Butte County, two in Ventura and Los Angeles counties. The cost in human life is immeasurable, with nine people confirmed dead in northern California and many more missing. There’s no way to gauge the damage to property and the disruption to lives: what is the price of a town burned to the ground?

The town is, or was, Paradise, a community of 26,000 people in the northern Sierra Nevada foothills.… More

Denver court will hear appeals of FCC decision to preempt local control over poles, wireless permits

6 November 2018 by Steve Blum
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A federal judicial panel decided on Friday to consolidate at least six of the seven appeals filed by local governments and wireless carriers against an FCC ruling that attempts to set sweeping new small cell permit and leasing rules for local and state governments. Yesterday, the court given the job – the tenth circuit of the U.S. court of appeals, based in Denver – issued instructions to the challengers, essentially telling them to get their paperwork in order and stand by for further instructions.… More

Western cities line up against FCC muni property grab

30 October 2018 by Steve Blum
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There must be something in the salt air coming off the Pacific Ocean. Only local agencies on or (relatively) near the west coast asked a federal appeals court to block the Federal Communication Commission’s decision to preempt local ownership of streetlights and other municipal property that’s planted in the public right of way. Contrary to my prediction, the rest of the U.S. is sitting it out. I checked the websites of the federal appeals courts around the country, and didn’t find any new challenges.… More

Cities pile onto appeal of FCC pole preemption decision, AT&T doubles down on greedy

29 October 2018 by Steve Blum
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Cities and counties across the western U.S. are challenging the Federal Communications Commission’s ruling that preempts local ownership of street lights, traffic signals and other assets located in the public right of way.

AT&T and Sprint, on the other hand, appealed the FCC’s decision, claiming it didn’t go far enough. Links to the petitions are below.

League of Cities organisations from Arizona, California and Oregon, along with the cities of Seattle and Tacoma, and King County in Washington filed a challenge in the ninth circuit court, which is the San Francisco-based federal appellate court that handles cases from the west coast and some mountain states.… More

Cities challenge FCC’s wireless big foot, AT&T tells court it isn’t big enough

28 October 2018 by Steve Blum
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Cities and counties in western states, and their lobbying organisations, asked the federal appeals court in San Francisco to block a ruling by the Federal Communications Commission that would take away most local authority over small cells and other wireless facility permits, and preempt ownership of municipal assets, such as streetlight poles, in the public right of way. Links to all the documents filed last week are here

AT&T and Sprint also challenged the FCC’s decision, because, they say, it didn’t go far enough.… More

FCC preemption of local street pole ownership takes effect in January

19 October 2018 by Steve Blum
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The Federal Communications Commission wasted no time in publishing its new rules regarding how cities and counties can regulate (or, really, not) small wireless facilities in the federal register. That means most of the rules take effect on 14 January 2019, unless one of the promised lawsuits materialises and a court puts everything on hold.

The new rules don’t force local governments to do anything – the FCC doesn’t have authority. But state and federal courts do, and the intent is to set standards that judges will apply when settling disputes between wireless companies and local agencies.… More

PG&E didn’t start any fires this week and Californians complain

16 October 2018 by Steve Blum
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Pacific Gas and Electric began shutting down electric lines in high risk fire zones on Sunday night, as winds topping 50 miles per hour ripped through northern California. At last report, PG&E had cut power in seven counties – Amador, Calaveras, El Dorado, Lake, Napa, Placer and Sonoma. Crews inspected lines for damage yesterday, as PG&E gradually restored power to the majority of blacked out customers. The job is expected to be finished today.

On Sunday, alerts were broadcast widely.… More

PG&E responsible for Yuba County fire, AT&T is in the clear Cal Fire report says

11 October 2018 by Steve Blum
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Pacific Gas and Electric power lines were the cause of the Cascade fire in Yuba County last year, one of many fires that came to be known collectively as the “October 2018 Fire Siege”. That’s according to an investigation report released by the California Department of Forestry and Fire protection. However, unlike some of the other fires where PG&E was implicated, the cause was not the result of a failure to follow laws regarding utility line maintenance and operations.… More