Public Utility District No. 2 of Pacific County, Washington Wins Lawsuit in Electric Pole Attachment Case

SEATTLE, March 17, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- GORDON THOMAS HONEYWELL represented Public Utility District  No. 2 of Pacific County in a lawsuit against Comcast, Charter Communications, and CenturyLink (in the process of an acquisition with Qwest), in Pacific County, Washington Superior Court relating to the rates and other terms and conditions under which the private companies can attach their fiber optic cable and other communications equipment to the PUD's electric poles.  Pacific PUD, a small utility in primarily rural southwest Washington, won its three-year long legal battle against the three multi-billion dollar companies last week, when the Court ruled in favor of the Public Utility District, awarding over $600,000 in damages, after a three-week trial in October 2010.  

"The primary issues have been the rate-setting methodology used by the PUD, along with the other terms of the PUD's pole attachment agreement, and we are pleased with the Superior Court's decision in favor of our client," said Don Cohen, Partner at Gordon Thomas Honeywell, a principal in the Firm's Energy Practice, and the lead trial attorney for Pacific PUD.  "Our client developed the pole attachment agreement terms and conditions and adopted the rates in a fair and reasonable manner. The PUD's pole attachment rate was, as the Court recognized, fully consistent with the statutory requirements."  Whether the decision will be appealed is not known at this point.

Public Utility District No. 2 of Pacific County is a customer-owned utility providing electricity, water, and wholesale telecommunication services in Pacific County, Washington, with a population of more than 22,000 residents in the 937 square miles of Pacific County.  The system serves over 17,000 residential, commercial, industrial and irrigation customers throughout the Pacific County.

Gordon Thomas Honeywell, founded in 1894, is a full-service law firm with offices in Seattle and Tacoma, and has been ranked among the Top 10 Law Firms in Washington. The Firm's Energy Group lawyers have, for decades, represented public utility districts and other energy industry clients throughout the Pacific Northwest.  www.gth-law.com

SOURCE Gordon Thomas Honeywell