State utility regulators recommend that the board that oversees 911 services expand its scope to minimize multi-day outages after storms.
Early winter storms last November left residents of some rural southwestern Vermont towns without power — and phone service — for days. Lawmakers asked the state’s Public Utility Commission to look into whether phone providers were informing residents about backup power options as required by federal law.
The PUC, in a report issued this month, suggests the Enhanced 911 Board, which currently oversees emergency communication systems, should become the state’s “telecommunications resiliency utility” — a role that would work with individuals and communities to provide education and financial support to improve emergency connectivity.
Nationally, the days of phone service through a monolithic utility with copper wire are coming to an end. More Vermonters are using voice over internet protocol, “VoIP,” for their home phones — a service that is often bundled with internet and cable.
The devices use electricity, unlike standard landlines. This means that when the power goes out, the phones stop working and residents can’t call 911 in case of an emergency unless they have backup power. In rural parts of Vermont that don’t have good cell coverage, this can be a “significant public health and safety concern,” the PUC wrote in its report.
Sally and Harrison Picard, of Andover, wrote in a letter to the PUC that the “volatile weather” has led to more frequent outages at their house. Although they have backup power, the Picards say their battery never lasts for a full 24 hours and they have have been without a working phone for days after a storm.
“We cannot summon medical assistance, report a fire, or contact the police,” they wrote. “We are left completely isolated for days, even the campground designated as a warming station was left without power and communication.”
Recognizing these concerns, the federal government now requires VoIP companies to offer customers the option to purchase batteries that can provide eight hours of backup power — bumped up to 24 hours as of this year. The companies are also supposed to educate their customers about service limitations from power outages and information about backup options.
The PUC says that the Vermont VoIP providers are complying with the backup power regulations. The commission also says in the report that it does not feel requiring the VoIP companies to pay for backup power, as some residents had requested, would solve the problem.
That’s in part because the commission does not regulate VoIP providers as it does traditional utilities and because the range of technologies and providers makes a one size fits all requirement unreasonable, said Mike Tousley, staff attorney for the PUC.
Zack Tomanelli, of VPIRG, which filed comments in the proceeding in November, agreed that the providers, some of whom have limited resources, should not be required to provide backup options “free of charge” to customers.
“That doesn’t mean that the issue is solved,” Tomanelli said. “We do believe that there should be some financial assistance provided to anyone who wants one of these backup batteries and can’t afford it.”
That assistance could eventually come from a new utility the PUC recommends lawmakers create to “ensure that essential telecommunications service is available in Vermont.”
The commission recommends that that utility be the E911 board, which currently oversees the state’s 911 system.
The PUC suggests that the board could expand its role to also oversee 911 callers “who may suffer a power loss when the call needs to be made.” The board would work in conjunction with the state Department of Public Service and Vermont Emergency Management to minimize future repeats of the “perfect storm” when some southwestern Vermont residents couldn’t reach 911 through their home phones or cellphones during the 2018 November storm.
The PUC report likened the proposed 911 utility to the state’s energy efficiency utilities, like Efficiency Vermont.
“The telecommunications resiliency utility could provide both financial and technical assistance to Vermonters who need it,” the report states. “It could fill an educational gap. It could work with individual consumers and communities to bolster their resiliency.”
“There isn’t really an overriding technical or financial fix that can be directed by the state,” said Tousley. “It really is more we have to get people smart about this and we have to get local emergency response coordinators aware” of those who could be especially vulnerable during outages.
Barbara Neal, executive director of the E911 board, said the board has not yet reached an opinion on becoming the state’s telecommunications resiliency utility. She said the board will be asking for more information about the concept and expectations in this new role.
“We do see a need … for increased public education and awareness about the benefits and limitations of all the various types of telephone service in Vermont, including the non-line powered telephone service that was the subject of this investigation and the issue of battery backup,” said Neal.
The E911 board could play a role right now in coordinating that outreach effort, she added.
Erica Bornemann, director of Vermont Emergency Management, said the department has relied on community emergency response teams trained with federal funding. But due to federal cutbacks, only Windsor and Windham County currently have teams. Bornemann said those teams and local emergency management volunteers could be mobilized to help prepare residents for power losses and educate them about backup batteries.
The PUC has a separate ongoing investigation into vulnerabilities in the 911 system, such as “isolation,” which is when there is no alternate route for a call to go through if a line goes down.
Tomanelli said VPIRG supports creating a telecommunications resiliency utility but feels that whether the E911 board should play that role “warrants further investigation.”
The commission also says it will open a new investigation to obtain better data about the impact of electrical power outages on phone service. The E911 board is establishing new outage reporting requirements for telecommunications companies and some electrical utilities to obtain help it better understand impacts to 911 services.
“I think there’s a sense that there are weak links in the electrical chain that could be isolated and fixed that could help telecommunications too,” said Tousley.
