Utilities want to retain their own space on 6 GHz band

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) proposes a rule which, if adopted as currently drafted, could cause significant reliability concerns among electric utilities and other critical-infrastructure industry sectors across the United States, forcing them to rebuild parts of their infrastructure over a multi-year process to mitigate any associated risks and uncertainty.

“The FCC tends to operate in a silo, even though its decisions impact nearly every critical infrastructure industry in the country,” Robert Thormeyer, senior director of communications and advocacy at the Utilities Technology Council (UTC), told Daily Energy Insider. “If ever a rulemaking called for an inter-agency review, it is this one.”

In October 2018, the FCC proposed opening the 6 gigahertz (GHz) band to unlicensed users that would allow any commercial entity access to the band, which is used by utilities, water and wastewater companies and others for myriad mission-critical purposes.

The 6 GHz band is crowded, say utilities, noting that if new players entered the band, then their critical networks would be threatened by even more increased interference.

That’s not new news to the FCC, which is moving forward, nonetheless, telling critical-infrastructure industries (CII) that the agency can protect their systems from disruption through an automated protection system called Automated Frequency Coordination (AFC).

For instance, during the 8th Annual Americas Spectrum Management Conference on Sept. 24, FCC Commissioner Michael O’Rielly told attendees that the agency is “actively pursuing” allowing unlicensed wireless services in the 6 GHz band.

“This is a prime location for unlicensed spectrum because it can be combined with the 5 GHz and 5.9 GHz bands to provide the large spectrum channels needed to achieve 5G-like results,” O’Rielly said. “Opening this band to additional uses is doable as long as the incumbent protections are reasonable.”

Unfortunately, the AFC system is unproven, untested and not guaranteed to consistently and reliably prevent harmful interference, according to utilities and others.

In fact, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) also has concerns with AFC, according to Bruce Walker, assistant secretary in DOE’s Office of Electricity.

“As proposed by the FCC, the AFC is designed to control interference issues between unlicensed and licensed users,” Walker wrote in a Sept. 3 letter sent to FCC Chairman Ajit Pai. “However, this is a concept that has been neither field-tested nor verified.”

Walker said that if the FCC moves forward with changes to the 6 GHz band, it’s imperative that it first adequately test the AFC and ensure other safeguards are in place, and he suggested that the FCC get the DOE National Laboratories involved, as they “have significant capability to evaluate potential interference scenarios, field test, and make recommendations to improve the use of AFC.”

Additionally, Walker pointed out that America’s energy and water industries currently don’t have any cost-effective, readily achievable alternatives to the 6 GHz band if the FCC proposal is approved, and he requested that the FCC consider the use of other spectrum bands outside of the 6 GHz that could be used to increase public WiFi capabilities rather than risk interference, and thus the reliability, of the nation’s power and water industries.

“DOE believes it is prudent to investigate a long-term solution for dedicated spectrum for our critical infrastructure users in the energy and water sectors,” wrote Walker. “This is necessary with the anticipated significant expansion of WiFi usage and the potential for near- and long-term spectrum interference in the 6 GHz band.”

Richard Ward, senior director of government relations for the Edison Electric Institute (EEI), which represents the nation’s investor-owned utilities, concurred.

“Our position hasn’t been ‘No,’ It’s been ‘We have to make sure it works,’” Ward told Daily Energy Insider. “Our concern is that we don’t have the luxury to build the airplane as we fly it.”

Negative impacts on critical-infrastructure systems also could put public safety at risk and disturb other important systems for the private sector and the government, said Ward.

“This situation makes dramatically clear that the FCC does not understand the needs of utilities and other critical-infrastructure industries,” Thormeyer said, adding that the commission “must reach out to other agencies,” including DOE and FERC as it continues its analysis.

In fact, the UTC, along with EEI, the American Public Power Association, the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association, the Nuclear Energy Institute, and the American Water Works Association, have jointly urged U.S. Energy Secretary Rick Perry to consider holding a public meeting on the FCC’s ongoing proceeding.

“Although the FCC is an independent agency, its decisions have a clear and present impact on the nation’s energy and water sectors. It is therefore in DOE’s interest to hold a public conference or, at the very least, encourage the FCC to ensure that its final rule contains adequate, tested and proven measures to protect the CII, which power our ways of life,” wrote representatives of the organizations in a July 16 letter sent to Secretary Perry, as well as FERC Chairman Neil Chatterjee and three other FERC commissioners.

The executives wrote that such interference to their mission-critical communications networks could impair an electric utility’s ability to protect its infrastructure from faults on the grid.

“In order for electric utilities to keep the lights on as reliably as they do, they need data about their power lines and generation infrastructure to be relayed as quickly as possible,” UTC’s Thormeyer said. “If a teleprotection system, for example, senses a fault on a power line, it takes action to prevent such a fault from cascading or expanding into a greater problem that could perhaps cause an outage or worse.”

Licensed spectrum in the 6 GHz band, he said, is essential to utility operations “because it enables fast communications over long distances. The 6 GHz band is a vital tool in the utility toolbox which ensures the safe, resilient and reliable delivery of electricity across the U.S.”

EEI’s Ward agreed that the FCC should hear from other agencies that regulate CII infrastructure.

“The FCC with a strike of the pen can really impact so many critical infrastructure sectors,” Ward said. “There should be a mechanism in place to engage FERC and to get other stakeholders involved, as well.”

Right now, it seems unclear what the outcome would be for utilities and others if they are forced to move to another band of spectrum.

“That’s the problem — there are not many good options, and some, depending on location, will not have any options,” Thormeyer said.

Also, he said, switching bands is a long and complex process.

“It would likely require investment in new equipment and a lengthy process for building out towers and antennae,” said Thormeyer. “Microwave communications systems consist of towers, antennae and other infrastructure. Utilities know how complicated any infrastructure siting can be, and tower siting is just as complex.”

Other bands might require more towers because they can’t carry long-distance communications, he added.

“For utilities in or around federal lands, siting new towers may not be feasible,” Thormeyer said. “The only ready replacement for some is laying fiber, but again, this is a timely and complex process that may not be possible for every utility.”

The final decision on the FCC’s 6 GHz proposal isn’t expected until possibly late 2019 or early 2021, according to some sources.

And Commissioner O’Rielly recently said that if the FCC addresses other license spectrum needs, such as 3.7 GHz to 4.2 GHz, that would relieve significant pressure on users in the 6 GHz band.

“Accordingly, it would be wise to start studying the 7 GHz band to see if it can accommodate commercial operations,” O’Rielly said during the conference last month, adding that new legislation to do just that will be introduced by U.S. Reps. Mike Doyle (D-PA) and Bob Latta (R-OH). The 7 GHz band is a federal band that the Department of Defense uses for mission-critical communications.

“Additionally, efforts should be made to allow low-power indoor use, across the entire band, without the intervention of an automatic frequency coordinator, which would otherwise add expense for those wishing to use the band for devices like in-home wireless routers,” he said.

The FCC’s next open commission meeting is Oct. 25 at its Washington, D.C., headquarters from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. The meeting is open to the public.