Utility Broadband Key for Rural Areas, UTC Told
State and federal policymakers should consider infrastructure funding for energy and telecom together rather than in silos, said Mississippi Public Service Commissioner Brandon Presley at a partially virtual Utilities Telecom Council workshop in Spokane, Washington. That could lead to a…
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“multiplier of benefits,” since modernizing the electric grid will require fiber that could be shared for consumer broadband, said Presley. NARUC plans to vote on Presley’s draft resolution on the subject at its meeting next week. The draft focuses on electric cooperatives building middle-mile infrastructure, meaning if a cooperative is pursuing the last mile, “there's perhaps a suggestion that these legislators and commissioners ought not to be approving that kind of stuff,” said Keller Heckman lawyer Tom Magee on a UTC panel Thursday: It might not be well-taken by places like Chattanooga that directly sell service to residents. Five to 10 states passed laws empowering utilities to use electric easements to provide broadband, said Lerman Senter attorney Brett Heather Freedson on the same panel. There may be legal risk for co-ops even in states with utility broadband laws, she cautioned: A Virginia law faces a constitutional challenge after landowners sued an electric cooperative in U.S. District Court in Charlottesville, Virginia (case 3:20-cv-00065). Northwestern utilities stepped in to install fiber when telcos wouldn’t, said another panel Thursday. Douglas Electric Cooperative of Roseburg, Oregon, formed Douglas Fast Net because Lumen had no plans to significantly upgrade service, said DFN Manager Todd Way. “They were never going to really take care of our rural community, and I think we still see that to this day across the nation.” With an open-access fiber network in Kitsap County, Washington, the Kitsap Public Utility District is “not in this for a revenue stream,” stressed Telecom Director Angela Bennink: If the project had been a moneymaker, “the privates would be there.” Now the PUD’s network transports data for Lumen and cable companies, which provide residential services, she said. Addressing UTC virtually over Zoom, Presley faced intermittent audio and video issues as he discussed internet access. About 10 minutes into his remarks, his connection dropped out and UTC couldn’t get him back.