Arizona regulators order CenturyLink to clear backlog of line-location requests

The Arizona Corporation Commissionrecently ordered CenturyLink to clear a backlog of underground line-location requests. Under Arizona’s “blue-stake” laws, CenturyLink must mark the location of their underground infrastructure before another company or homeowner can start digging. The backlog of 32,000 locate requests occurred after CenturyLink switched locate contractor in May.

“CenturyLink has shown an apparent unwillingness to comply with the Commission's Blue Stake Law, said Commissioner Sandra D. Kennedy. “An unacceptable delay in responding to these requests has created a serious backlog numbering in the thousands, which is causing construction delays and other issues,”

CenturyLink is also under investigation by the Minnesota Office of Pipeline Safety after the agency received hundreds of complaints over the company’s failure to respond to requests to locate underground cabling. As of early July, CenturyLink had a backlog of more than 68,000 in Minnesota.

Links:

CenturyLink backlog on blue-stake requests delaying construction projects (Arizona Daily Star, July 27, 2019)

CenturyLink under investigation over failure to locate underground cabling (Speed Matters, July 23, 2019)

In the matter of the Commission's investigation of Qwest dba CenturyLlnk's failure to comply with the commission's blue stake law (Arizona Corporation Commission, June 26, 2019)