AT&T Files Complaint Against Duke Energy Over Pole Attachment Rates
AT&T previously challenged Duke's pole rates in federal court.
WASHINGTON, June 25, 2026 – AT&T is asking the Federal Communications Commission to refund what it calls “unjust and unreasonable” pole attachment rates charged by Duke Energy Carolinas.
In a complaint filed Wednesday, AT&T claims Duke has been charging rates multiple times higher than the FCC’s “old telecom rate” benchmark, a reference point for what utilities may charge for attaching telecommunications equipment to utility poles.
The FCC’s benchmark is calculated annually, and has risen from $9.65 per pole in 2023 to $12.55 in 2026, with an average of $10.92 over the three-year period.
AT&T says it has overpaid by “more than $[redacted] million” during the period, but the specific figure was not available. Several key figures in AT&T’s complaint are redacted, including Duke Energy’s actual per-pole rates and total alleged overpayments.
AT&T wants the FCC to order Duke to refund alleged overcharges dating back to June 2023, plus interest. The company argues the refunds are necessary to make attachers whole and enforce FCC pole attachment reforms.
“The Commission should invalidate Duke’s unjust, unreasonable, and unlawfully high pole attachment rates,” AT&T counsel wrote.
AT&T and Duke are parties to a 1978 joint-use agreement covering roughly 457,901 utility poles across North and South Carolina, with Duke owning about 80 percent of the infrastructure and AT&T the remaining share. The agreement has been automatically renewed annually in recent years.
AT&T argues the pricing structure is fundamentally unbalanced, saying “AT&T pays far more than Duke on a per-foot basis” and that third-party attachment revenues reduce Duke’s cost burden without proportionally reducing AT&T’s share.
AT&T previously challenged Duke's pole rates before the FCC and in federal court.
In a 2021 dispute involving Duke Energy Progress, the FCC found Duke had charged AT&T unlawfully high pole attachment rates and ordered refunds, but held that AT&T was entitled only to rates no higher than the agency's “old telecom rate” benchmark rather than the lower “new telecom rate” paid by some competitors because AT&T's joint-use agreement provided unique benefits.
Dissatisfied with that outcome, AT&T petitioned the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit for review in 2023, arguing it should receive the same rates available to other telecommunications attachers.
AT&T and Duke Energy later reached a private settlement before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit in their consolidated appeals, and the court dismissed the case in January 2024 ahead of scheduled oral arguments. The terms of the agreement were not made public, and the FCC did not oppose the dismissal.
