Client in Tulsa has a $12/month "Pole Attachment Fee" on their PSO commercial account. This is the first time I've seen this charge on a customer's bill. Pole attachment fees are normally charged by utilities to telecom companies for attaching equipment to power poles — not to end-use customers. Is this an error?
Unauthorized pole attachment fee on commercial accounts — anyone seen this?
That doesn't sound right. Pole attachment fees are governed by FCC rules and state PUC regulations, and they're charged to the companies that attach equipment to poles — cable companies, wireless carriers, fiber providers — not to the customers receiving electric service. I'd call PSO and ask them to cite the tariff provision that authorizes a pole attachment fee on a retail electric account. My guess is it was coded incorrectly in their billing system, possibly a charge that belongs on a telecom provider's account that ended up on your client's account by mistake.
I agree this is almost certainly an error. Pole attachment fees are wholesale charges between infrastructure owners and attachers. They have no place on a retail electric bill. Ask for the tariff citation and if PSO can't produce one, request removal and a full refund of all charges since the fee first appeared. This is one of those errors that's so obviously wrong that the utility should correct it immediately once it's brought to their attention.
Called PSO. The billing supervisor confirmed it was a coding error — the charge was supposed to be on a different account entirely. They're removing it and refunding 18 months at $12/month. Small dollar amount but a good lesson in questioning every line item you don't recognize.