West Virginia pole attachment rules, in writing and dated.

Cooperative poles

Outside the rate rule and inside the make ready statute, and the two must not be merged. 150 C.S.R. 38 section 2.2 copies the federal exclusion and writes any person that is cooperatively organized out of the defined term utility, and section 4.3 makes that a pleading requirement, so there is no state rate remedy on a cooperative pole, which is also outside 47 U.S.C. 224 by 224(a)(1). W. Va. Code 31G-4-1(8) defines pole owner as any person, corporation or entity owning a pole, with no exclusion, and 31G-4-4(a) gives the Public Service Commission jurisdiction over that article, so on the face of the text a cooperative pole is inside it for make ready, relocation, transfer and removal disputes, in the communications space only under 31G-4-3; no order or decision applying it to a cooperative was located. The state's only electric cooperative, Harrison Rural Electrification Association, is inside general Commission jurisdiction under W. Va. Code 24-2-1(a) and outside the pole rule, the reverse of the usual pattern, because the rule imported the federal exclusion. A BEAD subgrant is the only route to a rate ceiling on that pole, through a state subgrantee agreement that has not been read

Municipal poles

The same split, with an extra limit. Municipal systems are outside the rate rule because 150 C.S.R. 38 section 2.2 excludes any person owned by the State and section 2.8 defines State to include any political subdivision, and they are inside W. Va. Code 31G-4 on the face of 31G-4-1(8). W. Va. Code 24-2-1(g) removes Commission jurisdiction over the rates, fees and charges of municipal power systems and limits the rest to what is granted specifically in the code. On the text 31G-4-4(a) is such a specific grant and is not a rate setting power, but no Commission order or court has tested that reading. So a municipal pole has a state forum for a make ready, transfer or removal dispute and no state rate remedy, and the contract governs the rent. The two municipal electric systems are New Martinsville and Philippi. No federally owned pole owning distribution utility, no tribally owned utility and no state owned power authority was located in West Virginia

Rate standard

The federal formulas, adopted by reference, as a ceiling on investor owned electric and local exchange carrier poles. W. Va. Code 31G-4-4(b) directs the Commission to adopt 47 U.S.C. 224 and 47 CFR 1.1401 to 1.1415 and any subsequent modifications or additions, and 150 C.S.R. 38 section 1.6 makes a federal amendment effective in West Virginia sixty days after its federal effective date unless the Commission orders otherwise; General Order No. 261.2 used that clause to adopt the federal rule entitling an attacher to the owner's most recent cyclical pole inspection report for the poles in its application. Section 5.2 excludes non recurring reimbursements from cable operators and telecommunications carriers from the accounts that build the rate, so a make ready charge already reimbursed cannot also sit in the rental base. Section 5.4 still names Formulas A to D with a pre 2011 date reference, and whether the current federal telecommunications rate has replaced them is unresolved; Attachments A to D were not read, so no formula is quoted and no West Virginia rate figure is stated here. In Case No. 24-0703-T-E-CTV-GI the Commission held that a new attacher cannot be charged the entire cost of a replacement, that a replacement is not necessitated solely by the new request where the pole is already on the owner's replacement schedule or is unlikely to stay safe and serviceable through the next inspection cycle, that poles needing replacement for age, deterioration, safety violations or accident are replaced at the owner's cost, and that owners may not demand an up front contribution in aid of construction as cost sharing. Section 10.4.4 bars charging a new attacher to cure violations others caused, estimates and invoices must document the basis of every charge, section 10 copies the federal 2018 timeline with order size thresholds measured against the owner's West Virginia poles, and self help covers surveys and make ready but not pole replacements. Cooperative and municipal poles have no rate standard but the contract

Where a dispute goes

The Public Service Commission of West Virginia, and going to the FCC is the most common error, because West Virginia is certified and the FCC dismisses under 47 CFR 1.1405(a). Rate, term, condition and access complaints under 150 C.S.R. 38 sections 4 to 6 are open only to cable operators, telecommunications carriers, local exchange carriers, utilities and their associations, so a broadband only provider or a governmental attacher has no state or federal rate remedy, while make ready disputes under W. Va. Code 31G-4 are open to any attacher and the section 16 transfer and removal complaint to any attaching entity, governmental entities included. A utility must supply its rate cost data within thirty days of a request under section 4.6, and a complaint may not be dismissed where it failed to. The hard deadline is on transfer and removal invoices: the attacher must ask for a meeting within ten days of receipt and may file no later than forty days from the date the owner sent the invoice, not from receipt, under section 16.6.1, and a petition to stay a transfer notice is due within forty days of service. No rate complaint deadline was located; section 6.1.3 ties refunds to an unnamed statute of limitations, and W. Va. Code 55-2-6 is only a candidate. The Commission must act within 180 days of a formal complaint absent good cause and never later than 360 days, a clock on the Commission and not on the attacher. General Order No. 261.2 adds a Rapid Response Team for non binding mediation of disputes that delay broadband deployment. Under 150 C.S.R. 1 section 4.1.4 a corporation may file its own complaint through its chairman, chief executive officer or general manager, later filings need an attorney, and a retained professional who is not an attorney may not file pleadings. DA 26-579 names West Virginia as a state that adopted the federal regime; whether it also filed a pre 1996 certification was not established

Confidence

High confidence on certification from DA 22-630 and DA 26-579, on W. Va. Code 31G-4-1 to 31G-4-4, 24-2-1 and 55-2-6, on 150 C.S.R. 38 sections 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 10, 13 and 16 and 150 C.S.R. 1 section 4, and on General Order No. 261.2 and the Commission order of 2025-10-15, all read in full; Good confidence on the Commission order of 2025-08-26, taken from its quotation in the later order and a Commission press release; Provisional on the reach of W. Va. Code 31G-4 to cooperative and municipal poles and its fit with 24-2-1(g), on the absence of a constitutional commission, appellate authority or federal pole owner, on the cooperative's tariff status, on the BEAD condition as relied on here, and on the inference that West Virginia has no pre 1996 certification; Indicative only on the cooperative and municipal system counts and names. Attachments A to D and sections 14 and 15 were not retrieved, so the current rate formula, the overlashing and abandoned facility rules, the refund limitation period and any amendment of the rule since 2023-01-13 are open. No West Virginia rate figure was verified and none is stated here

AuthoritiesW. Va. Code 31G-4-1W. Va. Code 31G-4-2W. Va. Code 31G-4-3W. Va. Code 31G-4-4W. Va. Code 24-2-1W. Va. Code 55-2-6150 C.S.R. 38150 C.S.R. 1 section 447 U.S.C. 22447 CFR 1.1405(a)47 CFR 1.1411(c)(4)FCC DA 22-630FCC DA 26-579WV PSC General Order No. 261.2WV PSC Case No. 24-0703-T-E-CTV-GINTIA BEAD General Terms and Conditions Section 13.D.1.e