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NOTICE: This opinion is subject to motions for rehearing under Rule 22 as well as formal revision before publication in the New Hampshire Reports. Readers are requested to notify the Reporter, Supreme Court of New Hampshire, One Charles Doe Drive, Concord, New Hampshire 03301, of any editorial errors in order that corrections may be made before the opinion goes to press. Errors may be reported by E-mail at the following address: reporter@courts.state.nh.us. Opinions are available on the Internet by 9:00 a.m. on the morning of their release. The direct address of the court's home page is: http://www.courts.state.nh.us/supreme. THE SUPREME COURT OF NEW HAMPSHIRE ___________________________ Public Utilities Commission Nos. 2009-168 2009-432 APPEAL OF UNION TELEPHONE COMPANY d/b/a UNION COMMUNICATIONS (New Hampshire Public Utilities Commission) Argued: January 20, 2010 Opinion Issued: May 20, 2010 Murtha Cullina LLP, of Boston, Massachusetts (Olga L. Bogdanov and Robert J. Munnelly, Jr. on the brief, and Mr. Munnelly orally), for petitioner MetroCast Cablevision of New Hampshire, LLC. IDT America, Corp., filed no brief. Rothfelder Stern, L.L.C., of Westfield, New Jersey (Martin C. Rothfelder on the brief and orally), for Union Telephone Company d/b/a Union Communications. Michael A. Delaney, attorney general (Glenn A. Perlow, assistant attorney general, on the brief and orally), for the State.

Devine, Millimet & Branch, P.A., of Concord (Frederick J. Coolbroth & a. on the brief), for Bretton Woods Telephone Company, Inc., Dixville Telephone Company, Dunbarton Telephone Company, Inc., Granite State Telephone, Inc., Kearsarge Telephone Company, and Merrimack County Telephone Company, as amici curiae. DALIANIS, J. In these consolidated appeals, Union Telephone Company d/b/a Union Communications (Union) appeals orders of the New Hampshire Public Utilities Commission (PUC) denying Union's motions to rescind the PUC's grants of authority to the petitioners, MetroCast Cablevision of New Hampshire, LLC (MetroCast) and IDT America, Corp. (IDT), to operate as competitive local exchange carriers in Union's service territory. We reverse and remand. The record reveals the following facts. Union is a small incumbent local exchange carrier that operates in Alton, Barnstead, Center Barnstead, Farmington, Gilmanton, New Durham and Strafford. On September 19, 2008, MetroCast applied to the PUC to amend its certification as a competitive local exchange carrier to include Union's service territory in addition to its existing service in the territory of Northern New England Telephone Operations LLC, d/b/a FairPoint Communications (FairPoint). On September 30, 2008, the PUC granted MetroCast's application. See RSA 374:22-g (2009); N.H. Admin. Rules, PUC 431.01. IDT provides telecommunications services jointly with MetroCast. On February 27, 2009, IDT applied to amend its certification as a competitive local exchange carrier to include Union's service territory in addition to the existing service it provides in FairPoint's territory. The PUC granted IDT's application on March 3, 2009. Union filed motions with the PUC to rescind the authority granted to MetroCast and IDT to operate in its service territory, which the PUC denied. These appeals followed. I. Standing

We first address MetroCast's assertion that Union lacks standing to appeal the PUC's orders. To have standing to appeal an administrative agency decision to this court, a party must demonstrate that its rights "may be directly affected by the decision, or in other words, that [it] has suffered or will suffer an injury in fact." Appeal of Richards, 134 N.H. 148, 154 (quotations and citations omitted), cert. denied, 502 U.S. 899 (1991); see RSA 541:3 (2007).

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MetroCast argues that Union lacks standing because it has failed to show a direct injury from the PUC's decisions. MetroCast contends that "[t]he potential for increased competition in . . . Union['s] territory, even if true, is insufficient to establish injury." We hold that, because Union will face competition in its service area as a result of the PUC's orders, Union has standing to appeal them. See New Hampshire Bankers Ass'n v. Nelson, 113 N.H. 127, 129 (1973). II. Standard of Review

A party seeking to set aside an order of the PUC has the burden of demonstrating that the order is contrary to law or, by a clear preponderance of the evidence, that the order is unjust or unreasonable. RSA 541:13 (2007); see Appeal of Verizon New England, 153 N.H. 50, 56 (2005). Findings of fact by the PUC are presumed prima facie lawful and reasonable. RSA 541:13; see Appeal of Verizon New England, 153 N.H. at 56. Moreover, we deferentially review PUC orders such as the ones at issue. See Appeal of Verizon New England, 158 N.H. 693, 695 (2009). "When we are reviewing agency orders which seek to balance competing economic interests, or which anticipate such an administrative resolution, our responsibility is not to supplant the PUC's balance of interests with one more nearly to our liking." Id. (quotation, ellipsis and brackets omitted). "The statutory presumption, and the corresponding obligation of judicial deference are the more acute when we recognize that discretionary choices of policy necessarily affect such decisions, and that the legislature has entrusted such policy to the informed judgment of the [PUC] and not to the preference of reviewing courts." Appeal of Conservation Law Foundation, 127 N.H. 606, 616 (1986) (quotation omitted). While we give the PUC's policy choices considerable deference, we review the PUC's statutory interpretation de novo. See Appeal of Verizon New England, 158 N.H. at 695. III. Union's Arguments

Union argues that the PUC erred when it processed the applications of MetroCast and IDT pursuant to New Hampshire Administrative Rules, PUC 431.01 and failed to afford Union prior notice and a hearing as required by RSA 374:26 (2009) and the Due Process Clause of the Federal Constitution. See U.S. CONST. amends. V, XIV. We address these arguments in turn. A. Rule 431.01

The PUC processed the applications of MetroCast and IDT to serve as competitive local exchange carriers in Union's territory pursuant to Rule 431.01, which provides that "[b]efore commencing operations as a [competitive local exchange carrier] in New Hampshire, the entity proposing to provide [this] service shall register with the [PUC]" by filing certain materials and forms.

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N.H. Admin. Rules, PUC 431.01(b), (c). Unless the PUC denies the request, the PUC "shall issue a[n] . . . authorization number which authorizes the applicant to provide competitive local exchange service in the territory of non-exempt [incumbent local exchange carriers]." N.H. Admin. Rules, PUC 431.01(d). Rule 402.33 defines a non-exempt incumbent local exchange carrier as a carrier "that is not exempt pursuant to 47 U.S.C.

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