Greenlight reaches $5 million settlement with Public Service Commission

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Greenlight Networks must pay up to $5 million to the New York State Public Service Commission for allegedly failing to comply with utility pole attachment rules.

The Henrietta-based high-speed internet service provider must immediately pay $2.5 million into escrow for use by the New York State Broadband Office (BPO) for installation of broadband networks in unserved and underserved regions of the state.

An additional $2.5 million in penalty payments will be suspended if the company completes remedial work in compliance with a remediation schedule.

Greenlight also must pay restitution of all back rent due for placement of Greenlight equipment on the utility poles owned by Rochester Gas & Electric and Frontier Telephone of Rochester, Inc. and complete the repair of non-compliant pole attachments.

The settlement comes after a Department of Public Service investigation found Greenlight installed non-conforming attachments to utility-owned poles, in violation of state safety standards.

The investigation alleged that Greenlight failed to pay rent for pole attachments, failed to receive proper approval before making unilateral attachments to utility poles, and during that unilateral “self-help” attachment activity, made many of those attachments in violation of commission orders and utility pole attachment agreements, the commission announced on Thursday.

Many of the installations were made in what is required to be “neutral space” on the poles, a buffer designed to enhance worker safety.

“By failing to ensure the minimum 40-inch separation between the electric supply space and the communications space, Greenlight created an environment where communications workers might have inadvertent contact with dangerous voltage-carrying wires or equipment, resulting in possible injury or electrocution,” the commission said.

“Greenlight Networks fully supports the New York State Public Service Commissions’ highest priority of assuring the safety of utility workers, contractors, customers and the general public,” Greenlight Networks said in a prepared statement.

“Greenlight has not had a single safety incident while expanding our high-speed fiber network to nearly 80,000 homes in 20 municipalities. As we have expanded, we anticipated and reserved the payments to the pole owners and are happy the pole owners have been able to remedy the situations on the poles. The remediation amount highlights just how expensive it is to rent space on and prepare the utility poles for fiber optic network.”

In August, RG&E and Frontier agreed to a settlement totaling $10 million for alleged failure to comply with pole attachment rules. The companies also failed to respond in a timely manner to Greenlight’s applications to use poles.

“We applaud Gov. (Kathy) Hochul’s ConnectAll initiative to direct the Department of Public Service (DPS) to streamline the current make-ready process, standardize right-of-way access and set clear permitting timelines,” Greenlight said. “In its current form, the make-ready process is the single largest hinderance to broadband expansion in New York State.

“Greenlight is poised to further accelerate our network expansion to address the broadband emergency in this state where consumers have one or less choice for broadband. We look forward to working with the New York State Broadband Program Office (BPO), the PSC, and DPS staff to be part of the solution to continue the expansion of reliable broadband Internet across the state.”

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