Look for state PUCs to start beefing up their auditing staffs as ...
Look for state PUCs to start beefing up their auditing staffs as more Sec. 271 applications gain approval, giving states more enforcement duties, ex-Ia. Utilities Board Chmn. Allan Thoms said last week in interview with Communications Daily. Thoms, recently…
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hired by Verizon as public policy vp for northwest U.S. region, said many states were “restocking” their auditing departments to prepare for heightened oversight of Bell company performance measurements and other enforcement requirements. Thoms, who was leader in state challenges to FCC’s interconnection rules after Telecom Act passage, said Commission’s relations with state regulators had improved greatly under ex-FCC Chmn. William Kennard and remain cordial under current Chmn. Powell. Ia. Utilities Board was lead PUC in consolidated suit against FCC that went to U.S. Supreme Court twice, first challenging Commission’s authority to impose rules on states and then questioning agency’s Total Element Long-Run Incremental Cost (TELRIC) standard for interconnection pricing. Thoms said he sometimes wondered whether he would have had courage to take on FCC had he not been relatively new as board chairman. He said then-FCC Chmn. Reed Hundt didn’t seem to mind Ia. Utilities Board’s suit, “but he sure did dislike the stay” that board sought and won from 8th U.S. Appeals Court, St. Louis.