Commission Orders Wood Pole Inspection Programs for Electric and Telephone Companies

By a four-to-one vote, the five-member Commission said initiating the inspection programs is one of a number of steps aimed at making the state’s utilities less susceptible to damage from hurricanes and tropical storms.

“This is one of a number of initiatives we’ll be taking to reduce our vulnerability to long-term outages,” Commission Chairman Lisa Polak Edgar said.  “Our ratepayers and our utilities have taken a beating over the last two years and we have to move forward with solutions.”

 The 2004 and 2005 hurricane seasons set records not only for the number of storms to hit the state, but for the damage caused to critical infrastructure, resulting in lengthy outages of electric and telephone service.

Under the plan adopted by the Commission Tuesday, companies will be responsible for conducting specific tests to wooden poles on a cycle that insures each pole is tested at least once every 8 years.

###