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Pole Attachments 101 a UTC Briefing Paper Pole Attachments 101 A UTC Briefing Paper The most visible piece of electricity infrastructure is telecommunications services. the utility pole that likely carries electricity to your Why Utility Poles Are Important home and/or place of business. Often referred to as “light poles,” because they also The reason why utility poles can be found all frequently have street lights on top of the pole, for across the U.S. is because of their first and most the most part these poles carry electricity to nearly critical purpose—to safely and reliably deliver every home and business in the U.S. electricity to homes and businesses, no matter where they are located. Because electricity is typically generated by power plants located in Without the humble utility pole, most of us could remote areas, power lines bring the electricity to not watch television, charge our smartphones, customers. Once generated, electricity is heat our homes, refrigerate our food, and so much transmitted through high-voltage electricity more. In other words, the utility pole, and more transmission lines in order to send the power across specifically the electricity it carries, powers our long distances from the power plants to lives. substations. Transmission lines are placed on Because utility poles are almost everywhere, they hulking steel transmission towers that can often be are often used to deliver more than viewed along major highways, farm land, and electricity. In addition to street lighting, utility other rights-of-way. owned poles often carry telecommunications The electricity moves via these long-distance equipment that brings cable, internet, and voice transmission lines to substations, where it is services throughout the country. transferred to lower-power local distribution lines, Therefore, not only is the utility pole vital for which are carried by the utility poles described in bringing electricity across the country, it is also this brief. Finally, transformers mounted on utility critical for connecting Americans to broadband. In poles reduce the electricity to the local service more ways than one, electric utilities empower delivery voltages, in the U.S. either 120 volts or 240 broadband deployment across the U.S. volts, depending on each building’s requirements. Yet we often take for granted just how essential In many newer neighborhoods, the last mile these wooden or sometimes steel or concrete delivery of energy occurs via underground circuits. poles are to our economy. We probably only Utility Poles notice them after a major storm or when a Approximately 180 million utility poles dot the U.S. speeding car knocks a few down, taking out landscape, the overwhelming majority of which electricity to several nearby homes as well. But are wooden, with the rest being steel or concrete. without the utility pole, not only would our These poles are built and designed to support the electricity be less accessible and reliable, so would wires and other devices that safely deliver nearly everything we use for our increasingly electricity throughout in the U.S. Utilities determine digital lives. whether to use steel, wood, or concrete for their This document provides a brief overview of utility poles based on numerous factors, most important poles, how they are regulated, and how this location and risk. For example, utilities in Florida infrastructure enables innovation. It also describes have embarked on a multi-year process to harden how utility infrastructure empowers broadband their electric infrastructure due to the number of connectivity and enables the latest “5G” hurricanes their systems face each year. Therefore many are installing new steel or concrete poles in covered the costs of attaching communications the coastal areas that face the brunt of the strong equipment and timeframes for allowing these new winds that can bring down power lines. In other devices to be safely added to the poles. As part of instances, utilities are burying power lines as well, in the joint-use agreement, the pole owner would first order to reduce weather and other risks. ensure its pole could safely handle the new The resilience of the pole itself is so important devices, wires, and equipment being added to its because electricity can be extremely dangerous. pole, and then agree on the rates, terms, and Utilities, therefore, build their poles to withstand conditions for doing so. specific hazards such as high winds, snow, and ice. In the late 1970s, as Congress began deregulating In addition, poles are outfitted with numerous telecommunications and other industries, devices to reduce the voltage of electricity to lawmakers also created new pole-attachment make it safe for residential and business use. This is rules for competitive telecommunications why electricity devices are typically placed on the providers and newer technologies such as cable upper portion/top of each utility pole to prevent, television. Specifically, Congress directed the as much as possible, inadvertent contact. Contact Federal Communications Commission (FCC) or with live electricity is life-threatening, so the place- state utility regulators to establish strict, low rates ment of electrical wires and equipment at the top for pole attachments as an effort to lower the cost of the poles is critical to public safety. of entry for these new services. Congress As described in more detail below, the process of specifically exempted public-power and attaching other services to utility poles must be cooperative utilities from these requirements. As done with safety foremost in mind. Everything on a internet service spread throughout the country in utility pole is carefully and properly constructed to the late 1990s, policymakers continued revising ensure public safety and the integrity of the pole these rules under the premise that lowering the itself. costs of, and reducing some of the regulatory requirements for, attaching internet equipment to Pole Attachments—How it Works utility poles would reduce the overall costs of Because utility poles can be found almost providing internet service. everywhere, poles are often used to deliver other In theory, by setting cheap pole-attachment rates critical services as well—voice, data, and internet and reducing timeframes to review applications to services, for example. For most of the last century, add new devices to utility poles would both utility poles were owned or controlled largely by incentivize new business entrants and encourage two entities: electric utilities and telephone big internet providers to use those savings to invest companies. This was done to reduce the number in bringing internet service to all Americans, of poles used to deliver both electricity and voice including those located in rural and remote areas. services to the same homes and businesses. By using one pole, electricity and telephone services, Utility poles, therefore, are critical to ensuring every and later video, cable, and broadband, could be American has access to broadband. Like delivered much more efficiently. electricity in the early to mid-1900s, broadband/ internet services are quickly becoming essential to Because access to utility poles provided access to modern life. Ensuring that everyone in the U.S., customers, utility poles are valuable real estate for whether they live in densely, populated urban telecommunications companies. The process of areas or remote, rural locations, has access to adding or “attaching” other services to a utility broadband is a goal shared, and often enhanced, pole is called “pole attachments.” by electric utilities across the country. For most of the 1900s, the process of adding (or Utility Pole Attachments—What Goes on a Pole “attaching”) other wires and devices to these poles initially took place between negotiations So just what kinds of equipment are being with utilities and telephone companies through so- attached onto utility poles? Let’s first start the called “joint-use agreements.” These agreements electricity services the poles are initially designed to carry. The top portion of the pole is typically reserved for electricity equipment for wireless industry commonly describes small-cells as safety reasons, as specialized pieces of “the size of a pizza box” or backpack, and for equipment are necessary to lower the voltage of some of these devices, this is true. However, many the electricity being delivered on the distribution so-called “small cell” devices are in fact quite lines into homes and businesses. These devices large and cumbersome. Some of these devices include insulators, fuse cutouts, lightning arresters actually weigh as much as a full-size refrigerator— to protect the poles and equipment from lightning 21 cubic feet, along with a 6 c.f. antenna. Adding strikes, stepdown transformers, and the wires which anything that weighs as much as a refrigerator to send the electricity into buildings. Some utility poles a utility pole—or any other infrastructure—must be include street lights attached near the top of the done with great care to ensure the new attach- pole. ment does not harm the existing infrastructure. Equipment needed for voice, data, cable, and In addition, for small cells to work, they must be wireless telecommunications services are found deployed in great numbers over dense areas. This underneath the electrical equipment. Up until the means that 5G and small cells are more development of small-cellular devices, most voice, likely to be deployed in largely populated urban data, and cable services are carried through areas, such as city centers and sports arenas, another round of wires attached to the pole. rather than rural locations. In fact, news reports indicate that 5G technologies will take years to For more graphical descriptions of utility poles, even reach suburban areas. please visit the following: Because small cells must deployed in high American Electric Power numbers, wireless companies are looking to Dominion Energy attach these devices to all kinds of infrastructure, including utility poles, as quickly and cheaply as Florida Public Service Commission possible.
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