New Connecticut law targets double utility poles
Coverage by NBC Connecticut Investigates has helped prompt new legislation aimed at making Connecticut neighborhoods safer — and a little less cluttered — by speeding up the removal of double utility poles.
Double poles are created when a damaged or broken utility pole is replaced, but wires and equipment remain attached to both the old pole and the new one.
They can be unsightly and, in some cases, neighbors say they pose safety concerns.
NBC Connecticut Investigates previously found more than 20,000 double utility poles across the state — some bolted, strapped and strung together to keep critical wires aloft.
In Monroe, Bruce Pancoast said one double pole in his neighborhood sat untouched for about a year.
“I read your article,” Pancoast told NBC Connecticut Investigates. “I thought, well, this is classic.”
He said the pole created sightline concerns for drivers.
“It’s an accident waiting to happen,” Pancoast said.
The pole was replaced one week after Pancoast spoke with NBC Connecticut Investigates.
State lawmakers have now passed legislation designed to reduce the time companies have to transfer wires and equipment from a damaged pole to a new one.
Senate Majority Leader Bob Duff said the issue became clear in his Norwalk district and that NBC Connecticut Investigates’ reporting helped lawmakers understand the scope of the problem.
“I appreciate your bringing this issue to light, because your reporting helped my colleagues in the legislature understand how our decisions have an impact and why this is such a big issue around safety,” Duff said.
Duff said the new law shortens the deadline for companies to move their equipment.
“Companies now have 20 days versus 45 days to move it,” Duff said. “If they don’t, it’s a fine of $100 per day.”
Under the legislation, if companies do not move the equipment in time, workers represented by the Communications Workers of America can complete the transfer and bill the companies back.
The Communications Workers of America Local 1298 represents about 2,000 people working for Verizon in Connecticut.
The union said power companies and Verizon each own about half of Connecticut’s roughly 900,000 utility poles.
According to the union, power companies typically transfer their wires first, Verizon goes last, and the delays often involve other companies attached to the pole in between.
“The problem was the double poles were piling up because ‘attachers’ weren’t shifting their equipment off of the pole,” said Dave Weidlich, president of CWA Local 1298.
Those “attachers” can include broadband, cable, and other companies with equipment on the poles.
Weidlich said the union believes those companies need to complete their work on time or face the possibility of having the work done for them at a potentially higher rate.
“The costs associated with doing the job you’re supposed to do are baked into everybody that’s on the pole,” Weidlich said. “If you do it right the first time, when it happens, there shouldn’t be any additional cost.”
The industry association representing cable and broadband companies did not respond to NBC Connecticut Investigates’ request for comment.
The new legislation designed to speed up double pole replacements goes into effect next year.
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