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FCC Enforcement Activities and the Electric Utility Industry

Over the past several years, the FCC has been very active in pursuing complaints of harmful interference from power-line or electrical devices. Those cases that involve the Amateur Radio Service are generally addressed cooperatively between the FCC, ARRL, the involved utility company and the Amateur Radio operator. The FCC Part 15 regulations are clear that the manufacturers of unlicensed devices must meet the appropriate conducted- or radiated-emissions requirements and that the operators of those devices are responsible for resolving any harmful interference to radio services that might occur from their use. In the case of any equipment owned or operated by an electric utility system, the operator as defined in Part 15 would generally be the utility company.

ARRL and the FCC have a cooperative agreement whose first step is for ARRL to try to resolve the interference complaint directly with the involved electric-utility company. If that fails, ARRL helps document the case for the FCC. The Commission then usually sends the utility-company CEO a letter, based on the information in the documented complaint and reasonable efforts to resolve the case directly. This letter advises the utility of its obligations under FCC rules and asks the utility company to correct any interference caused by its equipment.

ARRL and the FCC agree that voluntary cooperation is better than literally making a federal case out of what can be a local problem, so, to date, thanks in part to the general cooperation of the utility industry in resolving cases of harmful interference that involve their equipment, many interference cases have not required formal FCC enforcement action. However, the number of cases and consistent application of the applicable FCC Part-15 regulations about harmful interference demonstrate that interference is something that must be addressed when it occurs.

The following list links to copies of the FCC enforcement letters sent to electric-utility companies about harmful interference reports:

NOTE: Issuance by the FCC of a Warning Notice indicates that the FCC has what it believes to be reliable evidence of possible rules infractions and not necessarily that the recipient has violated FCC rules. The FCC has the authority, pursuant to §97.519(d)(2) of the rules to readminister any examination element previously administered by a volunteer examiner. These enforcement letters are representative of recent Advisory Notices, Warning Notices, Notices of Violation and other FCC communications to licensees and others involving possible serious rules violations. Unless otherwise indicated, all letters were signed by FCC Special Counsel for Amateur Radio Enforcement Riley Hollingsworth. This listing is not a comprehensive record of FCC Amateur enforcement actions. Follow-up correspondence will be published as provided. Address all inquiries regarding this correspondence to FCC Special Counsel Riley Hollingsworth, rholling@fcc.gov.

Although the Commission expects and hopes that those responsible for unlicensed emitters such as noisy insulators and other electrical equipment will voluntarily do what the rules require, they have followed up those cases that are not handled appropriately by the involved parties. The first step of this follow-up is generally an inquiry letter to the utility Chief Executive Officer, from the Enforcement Bureau of the FCC. These letters explain the rules and the Commission's expectation that the operator of an unlicensed device -- the utility company in these cases -- must correct the harmful interference in a reasonable time frame.