The California Public Utilities Commission voted Thursday to approve increasing the state’s High Cost Fund-A surcharge rate to 0.35 percent from 0.18 percent and the LifeLine Program surcharge rate to 2.4 percent from 1.15 percent. The High Cost Fund-A surcharge hike will cost end users an additional 17 cents per $100, while the LifeLine program surcharge hike will cost an additional $1.25 per $100, CPUC said. Both surcharge rate changes take effect Jan. 1, CPUC said.

Broadband remains the “elephant in the room” as the FCC’s Federal-State Joint Board on Universal Service examines possible recommendations for changing the USF contributions methodology, said Universal Consulting consultant Billy Jack Gregg during a NARUC panel discussion Monday. Former FCC Commissioner Harold Furchtgott-Roth said that contribution changes should bring contribution rules in line with the statute, but said he’s unsure if requiring USF contributions on broadband services is a “survivable” approach. The issue could become moot if the FCC chooses to pursue Title II reclassification as part of its net neutrality NPRM, as that would automatically bring broadband under the USF umbrella, Furchtgott-Roth said. National Association of State Utility Consumer Advocates Counsel David Bergmann said he believes it would be “inequitable” for the FCC to continue to exclude broadband from the USF pool if it pursues Title II reclassification. Retiring Nebraska Public Service Commissioner Anne Boyle said she believes the FCC will be forced to add broadband to the USF pool because of shrinking contributions from other services, but noted that adding broadband would not be akin to taxing the Internet.

NARUC members elected Florida Public Service Commissioner Lisa Edgar the group’s president Monday, as expected, here at the association's meeting in San Francisco (see 1411140060). Edgar was first vice president for the past year. Commissioners elected Montana Public Service Commissioner Travis Kavulla first vice president and Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission Chairman Robert Powelson second vice president. Telecom observers identified Kavulla's re-election to the Montana PSC earlier this month as one of the key races for the telecom industry (see 1411040055). Edgar, Kavulla and Powelson are set to begin their terms Wednesday.

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., weighed in on a labor dispute involving FairPoint Friday. “I am encouraged to see that FairPoint, IBEW, and CWA have responded positively to the meeting requested by the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Services (FMCS), scheduled to convene in Boston" Tuesday, Leahy said in a statement. “Hopefully the exploratory nature of this meeting, as part of the FMCS process, will present an opportunity for the parties to re-engage in dialogue.” Leahy emphasized the way New England customers rely on FairPoint: “A lengthy impasse benefits no one,” he said. “In our tradition of acknowledging our differences and working to resolve our problems in a respectful manner, I am pleased to see the parties have agreed to meet in Boston.”

The Pennsylvania Public Utilities Commission voted unanimously Thursday to reauthorize Lawrence County’s 911 fee for the next three years. The county will continue to charge $1.25 monthly per line to pay for 911. CenturyLink, Verizon, Windstream and dozens of CLECs serve Lawrence County, the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency said in a filing.

C Spire activated gigabit fiber service in two Mississippi cities Wednesday: Ridgeland and Starkville. “We’re determined to show the world that Starkville and these other cities are ready to be a catalyst for technology investment, economic growth and job creation,” said C Spire Chief Operating Officer Kevin Hankins in a news release. Deployment in Ridgeland will attract additional business and residents to the city, said Mayor Gene McGee, a Republican, in a news release. C Spire activated gigabit fiber service Monday in Quitman, another Mississippi city (see 1411100039). The three cities were among those C Spire selected last year as sites for gigabit deployment (see 1311050028).

The Estes Park Town Board approved the Estes Park Economic Development Corporation’s (EDC) request for a Feb. 3 special election on a ballot measure to let Estes Park exempt itself from Colorado’s municipal broadband law. Exemption from the law would allow Estes Park to more effectively use the fiber network it operates in conjunction with the Platte River Power Authority, the EDC said Thursday. Eight Colorado communities approved ballot measures during last week’s election to exempt themselves from the state’s municipal broadband law (see 1411060030).

Texas Rep. Tom Craddick, a Republican, said he refiled a bill for the Legislature to consider in the 2015 session that would institute a statewide ban on texting while driving. The legislature previously passed the bill, the Alex Brown Memorial Act (HB-80), during the 2011 and 2013 sessions but retiring Gov. Rick Perry, a Republican, vetoed it both times. Craddick said he named the bill for Alex Brown, a 17-year-old who died in a car crash in 2009 that occurred when she was texting. Texas bans texting while driving for drivers under the age of 18, cellphone use for school bus drivers while driving a bus occupied by children and all drivers’ use of mobile devices while they're in a school zone. Forty-four other states, D.C., Puerto Rico, Guam and the U.S. Virgin Islands have laws banning or otherwise limiting texting for all drivers. Thirty-eight Texas municipalities have banned texting while driving, but the lack of a statewide law creates a “patchwork of local ordinances that confuses drivers,” Craddick said in a statement Monday.

NARUC will consider a resolution at its annual meeting next week objecting to a September FCC order that said supervisory control and data acquisition and smart grid systems aren’t dedicated to protecting public safety and the prevention of human injury and property damage. The resolution would urge the FCC to allow utilities “expeditious access to spectrum licenses in order to best serve the public interest by supporting SCADA and smart grid systems,” because those systems are necessary for utilities’ safe operation and because public safety agencies depend on them. NARUC’s board will vote on the resolution Nov. 18, and all NARUC members will vote on it Nov. 19.

C Spire activated gigabit fiber service Monday in Quitman, Mississippi, which the company said it believes will restore the economic fortunes of the town. Quitman's economy has struggled amid job losses and plant closings, C Spire said. “We see a bright future for our town with widespread availability of high speed Internet,” Quitman Mayor Eddie Fulton said in a C Spire news release. Quitman was one of the Mississippi cities C Spire selected last year to as sites for gigabit deployment (see 1311050028).