Photo Credit: shutterstock New York state has filed a lawsuit against Charter Communications seeking injunctive relief after the company allegedly failed to meet its targets to expand high-speed internet service to rural areas. to collect $100,000 every day from the company until they provide broadband coverage to more than 58,000 additional customers in New York. The Public Service Commission, the state's utilities and telecommunications regulator, claimed in a petition that the company owes the state for not meeting that target in June. Charter, in turn, called the challenge “politically charged” rhetoric during an election year. The lawsuit was filed on July 27, the same day the commission voted to rescind its approval of the company's merger with Time Warner Cable in 2016. The vote means, effectively, that the state has ordered Charter to sell its business to another provider in New York and move out. Charter plans to fight the commission's effort to evict them from the state. The challenge is significant—Charter provides cable and internet services to much of New York. The company already plans to “challenge the legality” of an order in June that fined the company $2 million for not meeting its targets, according to documents filed with the PSC. Those targets are also at the center of the state's legal action against the cable and internet provider. When Charter moved to acquire Time Warner Cable in 2016, the PSC set a few conditions on the merger before granting its approval. The company had to extend its network to an additional 145,000 homes and businesses, referred to as passings, where they previously did not offer coverage, according to the approval order. Those customers had to be in “less densely populated and/or line extension areas.” Those targets were originally parsed out to 36,250 more passings per year. Charter did not meet that target during the first year and agreed to pay the state $13 million. The settlement also included a revised schedule for the number of new homes and businesses that Charter had to offer coverage, but kept the original 2020 deadline. When Charter submitted a progress report earlier this year, the PSC disqualified 14,552 of its reported passings, most of which were in New York City. John Sipos, acting general counsel for the PSC, addressed that finding during the commission's meeting last week. “There can be no dispute whatsoever that New York City is not a less densely populated area relative to other areas in New York state,” Sipos said. “In fact, it is the most densely populated area.” Charter then told the PSC earlier this month that it had completed 35,681 passings by the June 18 deadline, according to the petition. The target at that point was 58,417. Charter told the PSC that it wasn't planning to continue with the current buildout plan until the commission either agreed to rehear the targets or face litigation. A Charter spokeswoman maintained in a statement Monday that the company has expanded its network to more than 86,000 homes and businesses since the merger agreement with the PSC. “In the weeks leading up to an election, rhetoric often becomes politically charged,” said Lara Pritchard, spokeswoman for Charter. “But the fact is that Spectrum has extended the reach of our advanced broadband network to more than 86,000 New York homes and businesses since our merger agreement with the PSC. Our 11,000 diverse and locally based workers, who serve millions of customers in the state every day, remain focused on delivering faster and better broadband to more New Yorkers, as we promised.” The state's lawsuit against the company seeks $100,000 for every day since June 18 that it hasn't met the target of 58,417 passings. As of Tuesday, that would be $4.5 million. Sipos said in the petition that Charter has deep pockets to pay the state for injunctive relief, citing the company's $41 billion in revenues last year. The company did not make an attorney available for comment. According to filings, Samuel Feder, a managing partner at Jenner & Block in Washington, D.C., is representing Charter in the matter. The PSC also declined to make Sipos available for comment.