FCC to Get Tough on Offending Power Companies
NEWINGTON, CT, Jul 26, 2002--The FCC plans to
get tougher on electric utilities that fail to fix problems causing
interference with Amateur Radio and other licensed communications. Special
Counsel for Enforcement Riley Hollingsworth met recently at ARRL Headquarters
with Ed Hare, W1RFI, and John Phillips, K2QAI, of the ARRL Lab staff to discuss
various electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) issues. As a result of that
session, changes will be made in the way ARRL and FCC cooperate on power-line
cases.
 (L-R) ARRL Lab Supervisor Ed Hare, W1RFI, ARRL EMC
Specialist John Phillips, K2QAI, and FCC Special Counsel Riley Hollingsworth
met July 18 at ARRL Headquarters to discuss EMC issues, including power-line
interference cases.
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"What we've done is to review all cases that
the League has worked on where we had no cooperation," Hollingsworth said this
week. "In at least three instances, the power company in question hasn't
cooperated as it should have." Hollingsworth said these cases will "go to the
next step," which likely will entail involving the appropriate FCC field office
for additional investigation and appropriate enforcement. In the future,
initial letters from the ARRL and the FCC will impose a shorter compliance
window and will be more firmly worded. In addition, a follow-up letter from the
FCC will be sent to utilities that fail to respond appropriately to the initial
inquiry.
The routine FCC letter to a power company
cites the requirement to rectify problems with their equipment "if the
interference is caused by faulty power utility equipment." FCC Part 15 rules
classify most power-line and related equipment as "incidental radiators."
This means the utility equipment does not intentionally generate any
radio-frequency energy but may create it as an incidental part of its intended
operation. The FCC urges a utility to locate
sources of any interference caused by its equipment and make necessary
corrections "within a reasonable time."
 FCC
Part 15 rules require that utilities and other operators of "incidental radiators,"
such as power lines, cause no harmful interference to licensed operations.
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Typical was a recent letter from the FCC's Consumer
Information and Governmental Affairs Bureau to Commonwealth
Edison of Chicago citing radio frequency interference complaints from five
Illinois amateurs. According to the FCC, the amateurs had attempted without
success to work through the utility's complaint resolution channels.
Utilities that appear unwilling to abide by
Part 15 rules regulating unintentional radiation are in the minority,
Hollingsworth said. By and large, utilities contacted by ARRL as a result of
power-line noise complaints from amateurs have been extremely cooperative, and
he had high praise for the League's role in resolving complaints in the early
going. Only a handful of cases--perhaps a dozen in all--have ended up being
forwarded by the ARRL to the FCC for action.
"The League's record is outstanding here,"
Hollingsworth said. "The ARRL has resolved the vast number of these cases."
Cases necessitating FCC follow-up action have been minimal, he said, and most
of those stem from the utility's failure to understand its obligations under
Part 15.
Over the past year, the League has worked
with amateurs on behalf of the FCC to handle 72 complaints of suspected
power-line interference. Hare, the ARRL Lab supervisor, says that the effort has had its successes, some cases may
require more than an advisory letter from the FCC. "Having the FCC field
offices investigate those cases where a power company is not willing or able to
assume its responsibilities is a good next step," he said. "The League and the
FCC both hope that continued cooperation will bring these cases to a
satisfactory end without having to resort to drastic enforcement measures."
Page last modified: 11:39 AM, 26 Jul 2002 ET
Page author: awextra@arrl.org
Copyright © 2002, American Radio Relay League, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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