Corporation Commission Hangs Up on Phone Company’s Funding Request

 

landlinephone

The Oklahoma Corporation Commission on Tuesday sent a warning to public utilities who have been receiving millions of dollars through the controversial Oklahoma Universal  Fund.

Members voted 2-1 to deny the request of the Medicine Park Telephone company for more funds from the program. Commissioners Bob Anthony and Todd Hiett voted to deny the request while Commissioner Dana Murphy was against it. The discussion also raised a continuing dilemma for the commissioners—-the lack of public disclosure on the part of the small and rural phone companies.

“I’m perplexed,” stated Commissioner Anthony. “If we had OGE or ONG and we wanted to talk about executive compensation, I thought all of that was public information. These companies are public utilities, then why is their expense structure not subject to public disclosure?”

Medicine Park Telephone is a small phone company that does not, according to confidentiality agreements stipulated with the commission, have to reveal any of what might be considered proprietary information. Yet it has received hundreds of thousands of dollars over the past few years.

The Terral Telephone Company in southwest Oklahoma also has received money from the Universal Service Funding…$2,806,463 since 2013 and the commission has not given formal and full approval.  Instead, it is considered interim funding.

The company receiving the largest amount in University funding on  an interim basis is the Panhandle Telephone Cooperative. It has received $3,861,503 since filing its request in October 2013.

Anthony’s complaint shows the public cannot learn much about the small phone companies, not the number of customers, not how the money’s being spent and not the salaries of its officers. Commissioners can discuss those details but only behind closed doors and the private information cannot be the basis for a public decision for or against the funding.

Who’s paying for the OUSF?  Customers of the phone companies are.

The interim funding issue also raises another challenge for the Commission and that is the growing delay on decisions. As Commissioner Anthony pointed out, some requests have gone more than 2,000 days without a formal decision.

“Something’s gotta change because to have a dozen cases over a thousand days old involving probably $10 million we paid out without full authorization—-that’s not a good business-like way to manager our business,” complained Anthony. “That’s called ‘kick the can down the road’ and that’s what happens for years and years now. we have one case that’s over 2,000 days old and a related case also about the high cost fund that’s 1,400 days old.”