Press Release

PUC Approves Settlement with Verizon Pennsylvania LLC Regarding Past Service Outages in Southwest PA

Published on 7/15/2021

Filed under: Telecommunications

Settlement Addresses Alleged Failure of a Portion of Copper Cable Within the Washington Wire Center During January 2018 Flooding

HARRISBURG – The Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PUC) today approved a settlement agreement between Verizon Pennsylvania LLC (Verizon PA) and the PUC’s independent Bureau of Investigation & Enforcement (I&E), following I&E’s informal investigation into service outages in January 2018 within Verizon PA’s Washington Wire Center in Washington County.

The Commission voted 4-0 to approve the settlement between Verizon PA and I&E.   On Jan. 12, 2018, the utility’s Cable No. 13 near Gorby Road in the Washington Wire Center failed, resulting in approximately 100 Verizon PA customers losing service.  By Feb. 1, 2018, service was restored to the last affected customers. 

Verizon PA avers that the failure of a portion of Cable No. 13 at Gorby Road was the result of flooding due to rising groundwater after a period of heavy snow and rain.  Under the conditions of the settlement, Verizon PA agrees to the following:

• Pay a civil penalty of $7,500 – with the civil penalty not tax deductible or able to be passed through as an additional charge to Verizon PA’s customers in Pennsylvania.
• Provide a $50 bill credit to each customer account affected by the January 2018 Gorby Road failure, to the extent that the account is still active and that the affected person/household is still a customer of Verizon PA.
• Within 16 weeks of a Final Order approving settlement, perform a 100% inspection of the copper facilities now serving customers in the Gorby Road area that were impacted by the Cable No. 13 failure in January 2018 – and continue to maintain copper facilities in this location to ensure safe, reliable, and continuous service until the copper facilities are replaced with fiber optic facilities.
• Commit to completing the deployment of fiber to the portion of the wire center that was affected by the January 2018 cable failure within 24 months of a Final Order approving the settlement in accordance with Verizon PA’s Sept. 16, 2019 filing with the Federal Communications Commission. This includes Verizon PA’s filing a letter with the Commission affirming compliance within 30 days of completion.

The Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission balances the needs of consumers and utilities; ensures safe and reliable utility service at reasonable rates; protects the public interest; educates consumers to make independent and informed utility choices; furthers economic development; and fosters new technologies and competitive markets in an environmentally sound manner.

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Docket No.:  M-2020-3003591

Contact:

• David Hixson
  Deputy Press Secretary
  717-772-2766
  dhixson@pa.gov