CPUC Withdraws Calif. LifeLine Draft

The California Public Utilities Commission won’t vote Thursday on a state LifeLine proposed decision (PD) that raised concerns for carriers. The CPUC withdrew the item from this week’s meeting, a hold list showed Monday, after the agency twice delayed scheduled votes (see 2209150032). Verizon asked the CPUC last month to withdraw or substantially change the proposal in docket R.20-02-008 to reduce California LifeLine subsidies when total federal monthly support applied to a LifeLine plan is more than $9.25 (see 2209090047). “It's most likely that the Commission had some changes or additions to the PD that are going to take a little bit of time to write, or that are substantive enough that it makes sense to issue a new PD,” emailed Paul Goodman, Center for Accessible Technology legal counsel. The CPUC didn’t comment. CPUC members still plan to vote Thursday on a draft to assess state USF fees based on a carrier’s number of access lines (see 2209230031).