Two of the Capital Region’s largest utility providers have settled $4.9 million in utility pole disputes before a Baton Rouge federal judge and the Louisiana Public Service Commission.
Judge Shelly Dick dismissed the federal lawsuit this week after DEMCO and Cox Communications reported reaching a settlement, the terms of which were not disclosed. A trial had been scheduled for May 23. The companies have also jointly asked the Louisiana Public Service Commission to dismiss a related complaint dating back to April 2012.
DEMCO filed a breach-of-contract lawsuit in Baton Rouge federal court in 2013, alleging Cox intentionally attached its cables to the electric cooperative’s utility poles without permission to avoid paying a $10-per-pole rental fee. But Cox says the lawsuit was filed as a “Hail Mary pass” in response to the complaint the telecommunications provider filed with the Louisiana Public Service Commission in April 2012, alleging it was suffering “pole-related abuses” at the hands of DEMCO.
Multiple court rulings in the federal case had favored DEMCO. Dick twice upheld U.S. Magistrate Richard Bourgeois’ recommendations denying Cox’s requests that the case be dismissed or stayed. Bourgeois had also rejected the LPSC’s request to intervene in the matter, concluding that the regulatory agency had no jurisdiction. Cox had argued the LPSC—and not the federal court—had the sole authority to settle the dispute.
DEMCO had alleged a 2011 audit discovered Cox attached to 34,093 DEMCO utility poles—7,537 more than it was reporting and paying to rent—and that Cox failed to pay its share of trimming and maintenance.
—Penny Font
