196.198 History
History: 1993 a. 496.
196.199
196.199
Interconnection agreements. 196.199(1)
(1)
Definition. In this section, "interconnection agreement" does not include an interconnection agreement to which a commercial mobile radio service provider is a party.
196.199(2)(a)(a) The commission has jurisdiction to approve and enforce interconnection agreements and may do all things necessary and convenient to its jurisdiction.
196.199(2)(b)
(b) The commission may promulgate rules that require an interconnection agreement to include alternate dispute resolution provisions.
196.199(2)(c)
(c) The commission shall promulgate rules that specify the requirements for determining under
sub. (3) (a) 1m. a. whether a party's alleged failure to comply with an interconnection agreement has a significant adverse effect on the ability of another party to the agreement to provide telecommunications service to its customers or potential customers.
196.199(3)(a)1.1. Upon the filing of any of the following, the commission may investigate whether a party to an interconnection agreement approved by the commission has failed to comply with the agreement:
196.199(3)(a)1.a.
a. A complaint by a party to the agreement that another party to the agreement has failed to comply with the agreement and that the failure to comply with the agreement has a significant adverse effect on the ability of the complaining party to provide telecommunications service to its customers or potential customers.
196.199(3)(a)1.b.
b. A complaint filed under any provision of this chapter by any person that the commission determines may involve a failure to comply with the agreement by a party to the agreement.
196.199(3)(a)1g.
1g. The commission may investigate whether a party to an interconnection agreement approved by the commission has complied with the agreement upon the filing of a petition by the party for a determination of whether the party has complied with the agreement if the petition demonstrates that a controversy has arisen over the party's compliance with the agreement. If the commission initiates an investigation under this subdivision, the commission may determine that a party to an interconnection agreement has failed to comply with the agreement only if a complaint is filed under
subd. 1. a. in which the complaining party alleges that the party's failure to comply with the agreement has a significant adverse affect on the complaining party's ability to provide telecommunications service to its customers or potential customers.
196.199(3)(a)1m.a.a. Within 5 business days after the filing of a complaint under
subd. 1. a. or the receipt of notice under
par. (b) 1. b., the party who is the subject of a complaint or the party who is identified in a notice under
par. (b) 1. b. as a party who has allegedly failed to comply with an agreement may request that the commission determine whether the alleged failure to comply has a significant adverse effect on the ability of the complaining party or any other party to the agreement to provide telecommunications service to its customers or potential customers. If a request is made under this
subd. 1m. a., the commission shall make a determination within 30 business days after receipt of the request.
196.199(3)(a)1m.b.
b. If the commission determines under
subd. 1m. a. that an alleged failure to comply has not had a significant adverse effect on the ability of a complaining party or any other party to an agreement to provide telecommunications service to its customers or potential customers, the commission shall terminate a proceeding on the complaint under this subsection and proceed on the complaint under
s. 196.26.
196.199(3)(a)2.
2. If the commission does not terminate a proceeding under
subd. 1m. b., the commission may, after an investigation under
subd. 1. or
1g. and after notice and hearing, do one of the following:
196.199(3)(a)2.a.
a. Issue an order under this
subd. 2. a. that includes a finding of a failure to comply with an interconnection agreement and that requires compliance with the agreement.
196.199(3)(a)2.b.
b. Issue an order that interprets any provision of an interconnection agreement.
196.199(3)(a)2.c.
c. If the commission determines that a party specified in
subd. 1g. has complied with an agreement, issue an order requiring any other action that the commission determines is necessary to resolve a controversy specified in
subd. 1g.
196.199(3)(a)2n.
2n. The commission may not issue an order under
subd. 2. more than 120 days after the filing of a complaint or petition under
subd. 1. or
1g., unless all of the parties to the proceeding consent to a longer time period that is approved by the commission. An order issued under
subd. 2. may be reviewed under
s. 227.52.
196.199(3)(b)1.1. Before initiating an investigation of a complaint specified in
par. (a) 1. b., the commission shall notify the parties to the agreement about the complaint. Within 5 business days after the parties receive notice under this subdivision, or within a shorter period of time specified by the commission in the notice, the commission shall do one of the following:
196.199(3)(b)1.a.
a. If the alleged failure to comply is resolved to the satisfaction of the commission, the commission shall dismiss the complaint with respect to any issues that involve an alleged failure to comply.
196.199(3)(b)1.b.
b. If the alleged failure to comply is not resolved to the satisfaction of the commission, the commission shall provide a notice to the parties that identifies the party who has allegedly failed to comply with the agreement.
196.199(3)(b)2.
2. No party to an interconnection agreement may file a complaint under
par. (a) 1. a. or a petition under
par. (a) 1g. unless the party has first notified the other parties to the agreement and provided an opportunity to resolve the alleged failure to comply or controversy over compliance to the satisfaction of the complaining or petitioning party within 5 business days, or a shorter period of time approved by the commission, after receipt of the notice. The commission shall promulgate rules establishing standards and procedures for approving a period of time shorter than 5 business days.
196.199(3)(c)
(c) No person may make any filing in a proceeding under this subsection unless there is a nonfrivolous basis for doing so. A person may not make any filing in a proceeding under this subsection unless, to the best of the person's knowledge, information and belief, formed after a reasonable inquiry, all of the following conditions are satisfied:
196.199(3)(c)2.
2. The allegations and other factual contentions in the filing have evidentiary support or, if specifically so identified in the filing, are likely to have evidentiary support after reasonable opportunity for further investigation or discovery.
196.199(3)(c)3.
3. The filing is not intended to harass a party to an interconnection agreement.
196.199(3)(c)4.
4. The filing is not intended to cause unnecessary delay in implementing an interconnection agreement or create a needless increase in the cost of litigation.
196.199(3)(d)
(d) If, at any time during a proceeding under this subsection, the commission determines, after notice and reasonable opportunity to be heard, that a person has made a filing in violation of
par. (c), the commission shall order the person to pay to any party to the proceeding the amount of reasonable expenses incurred by that party because of the filing, including reasonable attorney fees, and the commission may directly assess a forfeiture against the person of not less than $25 nor more than $5,000. A person against whom the commission assesses a forfeiture under this paragraph shall pay the forfeiture to the commission within 10 days after receipt of notice of the assessment or, if the person petitions for judicial review under
ch. 227, within 10 days after receipt of the final decision after exhaustion of judicial review. The commission shall remit all forfeitures paid under this paragraph to the state treasurer for deposit in the school fund. The attorney general may bring an action in the name of the state to collect any forfeiture assessed by the commission under this paragraph that has not been paid as provided in this paragraph. The only contestable issue in such an action is whether or not the forfeiture has been paid.
196.199(3)(e)
(e) At any time during a proceeding under this subsection, the commission may, without holding a hearing, order a party to the interconnection agreement to take an action or refrain from taking an action that is related to complying with the agreement upon a showing by any other party to the proceeding of all of the following:
196.199(3)(e)1.
1. That there is a substantial probability that, at the conclusion of the proceeding, the commission will find that the party against whom the order is sought has failed to comply with the interconnection agreement.
196.199(3)(e)2.
2. For a complaint or petition filed by a party to an interconnection agreement, that the party against whom the order is sought is taking an action or failing to take an action that has a substantial adverse effect on the ability of the complaining or petitioning party to provide telecommunications service to its customers or potential customers.
196.199(3)(f)
(f) The commission may require a bond or other security of a person seeking an order under
par. (e) to the effect that the person shall pay the party against whom the order is issued such damages and expenses, excluding attorney fees, in an amount specified by the commission, as that party may sustain by reason of the order if the commission determines under
par. (g) that the person seeking the order was not entitled to the order.
196.199(3)(g)
(g) Within 5 business days after receiving an order issued under
par. (e), the party against whom the order is issued may request the commission to review the order. Within 30 days after receiving a request under this paragraph, the commission shall determine whether the person who sought the order under
par. (e) was entitled to the order and shall terminate, continue or modify the order on such terms as the commission determines are appropriate. If the commission determines that the person was not entitled to the order, the commission may order the person to pay the damages and expenses, excluding attorney fees, sustained, by reason of the order, by the party against whom the order was issued. In making a determination under this paragraph, the commission may consider only the factors specified in
par. (e) 1. to
3. and may consider information that the commission receives after the commission issued the order under
par. (e).
196.199(4)(a)1.1. If the commission issues an order under
sub. (3) (a) 2. a. in which the commission finds that a party to an interconnection agreement has failed to comply with the agreement, the party shall forfeit not more than $15,000 or, if the failure is wilful, not more than $40,000, except that if the party is a holding company that provides access under an interconnection agreement to 50,000 or less access lines in this state through affiliates that are small telecommunications utilities, or if the party is a small telecommunications utility, the forfeiture under this subdivision shall be not more than $7,500. For purposes of this subdivision, each day that a party fails to comply with an interconnection agreement is a separate failure to comply.
196.199(4)(a)2.
2. The maximum forfeiture that may be imposed under
subd. 1. shall be trebled if either of the following conditions is satisfied and shall be sextupled if both of the following conditions are satisfied:
196.199(4)(a)2.a.
a. The party's failure to comply causes death or life-threatening or seriously debilitating injury.
196.199(4)(a)2.b.
b. The party's failure to comply continues after the party receives written notice of the commission's order requiring compliance with the interconnection agreement.
196.199(4)(a)3.
3. In addition to a forfeiture imposed under
subd. 1., a party to an interconnection agreement, approved by the commission, who has wilfully failed to comply with the agreement shall forfeit an amount equal to not more than 2 times the gross value of the party's economic gain resulting from the failure to comply.
196.199(4)(b)
(b) A court shall consider each of the following in determining the amount of a forfeiture under
par. (a):
196.199(4)(b)1.
1. The appropriateness of the forfeiture to the volume of business of the party that failed to comply with the agreement.
196.199(4)(b)3.
3. Any good faith attempt to comply with the agreement after the party receives notice of a failure to comply
196.199(4)(c)
(c) In an action to recover a forfeiture under
par. (a), a finding by the commission in a proceeding under this subsection that a party to an interconnection agreement has failed to comply with the agreement shall be, subject to review under
s. 227.52, conclusive proof that the party failed to comply with the agreement.
196.199 History
History: 1997 a. 218.
196.20
196.20
Rules on service; changes in rates. 196.20(1)
(1) The rate schedules of any public utility shall include all rules applicable to the rendition or discontinuance of the service to which the rates specified in the schedules are applicable. No change may be made by any public utility in its schedules except by filing the change as proposed with the commission. Except for a telecommunications utility, no change in any public utility rule which purports to curtail the obligation or undertaking of service of the public utility shall be effective without the written approval of the commission after hearing, except that the commission, by emergency order, may make the rule, as filed, effective from the date of the order, pending final approval of the rule after hearing.
196.20(1m)(a)(a) A telecommunications utility may discontinue a service to an exchange if the service is optional and not essential to the provision of basic local exchange service, business access line and usage service within a local calling area or access services, or if one or more other telecommunications providers, whether or not the telecommunications providers are telecommunications utilities or otherwise subject to this chapter, are furnishing substantially the same telecommunications service to customers in the exchange, or if reasonable alternative services are available from the utility or other telecommunications providers.
196.20(1m)(b)
(b) A telecommunications utility proposing to discontinue a service to an exchange shall file a notice of discontinuance of service with the commission, publish the notice in a newspaper of general circulation within the exchange, and provide other notice as reasonably required by the commission. Written notice of the discontinuation of a service under this subsection shall be given to affected customers.
196.20(1m)(c)
(c) Within 30 days after the date of publication of the notice, the commission, on its own motion or on the application of a person or other telecommunications utility, may initiate an investigation to determine if the discontinuance of service is authorized under this subsection. Following an opportunity for hearing, the commission may order the continued provision of any service not authorized to be discontinued.
196.20(1m)(d)
(d) The commission shall determine when and under what conditions a telecommunications utility may discontinue basic local exchange service, basic message telecommunications service or any element of universal service to an exchange or part of an exchange.
196.20(2)(a)(a) Except for a telecommunications utility, a proposed change which constitutes a decrease in rates shall be effective at the time specified in the change as filed but not earlier than 10 days after the date of filing the change with the commission, unless any of the following occurs:
196.20(2)(a)1.
1. During the 10-day period the commission, either upon complaint or upon its own motion, by order, suspends the operation of the proposed change.
196.20(2)(a)2.
2. The commission, upon application of any public utility, directs that a proposed reduction in rates be made effective less than 10 days after filing the proposed reduction.
196.20(2)(am)
(am) For telecommunications utilities, a proposed change which constitutes a decrease in rates shall be effective at the time specified in the tariff as filed unless the commission, either upon complaint or upon its own motion, finds after investigation and hearing that the rate reduction violates
s. 196.204 or
196.219. Upon such a finding, the commission may order changes in the rates, terms and conditions.
196.20(2)(b)1.1. A suspension under
par. (a) 1. shall be effective for a period not exceeding 4 months, during which period the commission shall investigate any matter relative to the reasonableness or lawfulness of any change in schedule as filed. After the investigation the commission, by order, shall approve or disapprove the change, except as provided under
subd. 2. The commission shall give the public utility proposing the change an opportunity for hearing prior to issuing any order disapproving a change. If the commission disapproves the change, the change shall be ineffective.
196.20(2)(b)2.
2. If the commission orders a suspension under
par. (a) 1., the commission, after notice to the public utility of its objections to the change and after giving the public utility an opportunity to be heard on the objections, may prescribe a schedule which, revised on the basis of the objections, the commission finds to be lawful and reasonable instead of disapproving the schedule under
subd. 1.
196.20(2m)
(2m) Except as provided under
sub. (5) and
ss. 196.193,
196.195 (12) and
196.196, no change in schedules which constitutes an increase in rates to consumers may be made except by order of the commission, after an investigation and opportunity for hearing. The commission may waive a hearing under this subsection for a proposed change in a telecommunications utility schedule. By rule or order, the commission shall specify the notice and procedural requirements applicable to a telecommunications utility proposal for which a hearing is waived.
196.20(2r)
(2r) In setting the rates charged for basic residential local exchange telecommunications service under this section in local exchange areas served by the same telecommunications utility, the commission may investigate those areas where changes in these rates may be warranted because of the number of access lines accessible from the local exchange area.
196.20(3)
(3) Except as provided in
subs. (1m) and
(5) (a), this section does not apply to telecommunications cooperatives or small telecommunications utilities unless made subject to this section under
s. 196.205 or
196.215 (2).
196.20(4)(a)1.
1. "Automatic adjustment clause" means a provision included in the rate schedule of an electric public utility after investigation, notice and hearing which permits the electric public utility to recover in rates, without prior hearing and order of the commission, an increase in costs incurred by the electric public utility.
196.20(4)(a)2.
2. "Electric public utility" means a public utility whose purpose is the generation, transmission, delivery or furnishing of electric power but does not include a public utility owned and operated wholly by a municipality or cooperative and does not include any public utility which purchases, under federal or state approved wholesale rates, more than 50% of its electric power requirements from other than an affiliated interest as defined under
s. 196.52. "Electric public utility" does not include any Class A utility, as defined under
s. 199.03 (4), whose electric generation equipment has a total capacity of less than 30 megawatts.
196.20(4)(b)
(b) An electric public utility may not recover in rates any increase in cost, including fuel, by means of the operation of an automatic adjustment clause.
196.20(4)(c)
(c) If an increase in fuel costs is of an extraordinary or emergency nature, the commission, after a hearing limited in scope to the question of the increase in fuel costs, may grant a rate increase to an electric public utility.
196.20(5)(a)(a) This subsection applies to any of the following:
196.20(5)(a)1.
1. A small telecommunications utility subject to this section under
s. 196.215 (2) that files with the commission a proposed change in its rate schedules that constitutes an increase in rates, tolls or charges to consumers.
196.20(5)(b)1.1. If a small telecommunications utility files a proposed change in rate schedule with the commission, it shall file with the proposed change, on a form prescribed by the commission by rule, information sufficient for the commission to consider the proposed change.
196.20(5)(b)1g.
1g. If the commission orders a review of a proposed rate increase under
s. 196.215 (5), the small telecommunications utility shall file information sufficient for the commission to consider rates, tolls and charges within 120 days after the date on which the small telecommunications utility receives notice from the commission that it is subject to this subsection.
196.20(5)(b)1r.
1r. If the commission orders a review of rates, tolls or charges under
s. 196.215 (6) or
(7), the small telecommunications utility shall file information sufficient for the commission to consider rates, tolls and charges within 120 days after the small telecommunications utility receives notice from the commission that it is subject to this subsection.
196.20(5)(b)2.
2. Within 30 days after a small telecommunications utility files information under
subds. 1. to
1r., the commission shall inform the small telecommunications utility if any additional information is necessary. The commission may dismiss a proposed rate increase if the small telecommunications utility fails to submit information requested by the commission. A proposed rate increase dismissed under this subdivision may be refiled at any time.
196.20(5)(c)1.1. No later than 14 days after a small telecommunications utility files information under
par. (b) 1. to
1r., unless the commission grants an extension, the small telecommunications utility shall send a written notice to all of its consumers and to any other person requesting notice. The notice shall designate a period of time during which the commission will receive written comments in favor of or against the small telecommunications utility's proposed rate increase or the small telecommunications utility's rates, tolls or charges and during which a request for a hearing may be submitted under
subd. 2.
196.20(5)(c)2.
2. After a small telecommunications utility sends the notice under
subd. 1., any person may submit to the commission a written objection to the proposed rate increase or to rates, tolls or charges or may request a hearing.
