Neb. PSC Returns to Precision Agriculture, Weighs Dark Fiber
The Nebraska Public Service Commission is taking too long to help farmers needing precision agriculture capabilities, Commissioners Kevin Stocker and Christian Mirch said Tuesday. The Republicans said no in a 3-2 vote for an order seeking more feedback in a grantmaking case in which there has been confusion over funding. Later Tuesday, the PSC considered guidelines for leasing dark fiber owned by the state and political subdivisions.
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The Nebraska PSC didn’t know about available funding for the state’s precision agriculture program until about six weeks ago, said Nebraska PSC Telecom Director Cullen Robbins at the commission’s livestreamed meeting. “The money was put into our broadband bridge grant program without [anyone] really telling us.” The commissioners approved an order to seek comments by Oct. 6 and have a hearing Oct. 26 in docket C-5529. The PSC previously received precision agriculture program comments in docket BEAD-1 under an August 2022 order.
When the legislature created the precision ag program in 2022, it was to get $2 million from NTIA’s broadband, equity, access and deployment program. But that was before NTIA released the BEAD notice of funding availability (NOFO), “so there was no certainty about whether the program … would even be eligible for BEAD funding,” Robbins emailed us. “Once the NOFO was released, it was clear that funding the program through BEAD would be difficult, and would probably delay the program significantly.” Lawmakers appropriated $1 million this year for each of the next two fiscal years for precision agriculture, Robbins said. “However, there is no specific cash fund for that program, so the legislature put it in the Nebraska Broadband Bridge grant program but didn’t clearly earmark what that money was for.” That led to "some confusion," he said.
Mirch asked to “fast track” the proceeding and “get some money out the door for agricultural producers.” Robbins replied that the PSC’s pace depends on how responsive comments are to the agency’s questions. The commission has a lawyer who monitors the legislature and “should have known about this back [on] July 1,” said Mirch. "Holding up our agricultural industry is not … a good idea."
Since agriculture is Nebraska’s top industry, Stocker is “disappointed that we’re going to go ahead and open another listening session when we did have comments” before, the commissioner said. “If we can shorten the period to do anything to get this rolled out in a timely fashion, where these dollars can be utilized moving into the 2024 [agriculture] season, I would support that.” Stocker said he received many inquiries about the proceeding.
Commissioner Tim Schram (R) supported the order but asked if the hearing could happen a week sooner. Robbins said it could possibly be moved up to Oct. 20. Commissioners decided to hold off for now on changing the date. Chairman Dan Watermeier (R) and Commissioner Eric Kamler (R) also voted aye.
The PSC considered leasing dark fiber at a hearing later Tuesday in case C-5461. The legislature this year failed to pass a bill (LB-61) that would have removed restrictions on leasing dark fiber (see 2302210068).
Nebraska had only one dark fiber lease over the past several years under the existing leasing process, Robbins told commissioners. Stocker asked why. With so much fiber out there, there might not be demand, said Robbins. Also, there might be a perception that it’s difficult to get a lease rate approved by the commission, or confusion about the process, he said. Stocker said he believes the commission has an “open process today,” but “it’s just not utilized.”
In the open proceeding, the Nebraska PSC must (1) determine how to assess whether a lease serves a served or unserved area and (2) set a safe harbor range of market rates for leases, said Robbins. “The first task is a little easier to address,” said Robbins: The PSC could require applicants to define the area to be served by a possible lease, allowing the commission to analyze whether currently available services there have at least 25 Mbps download and 3 Mbps upload speeds, the state’s current definition for a served area, he said. Using dark fiber would likely lead to much faster speeds, he said.
Setting an acceptable range of market rates “is a more challenging prospect” since information on current dark fiber leases is hard to find, Robbins said. Based on what data the commission has, monthly lease rates vary from $20 to $500 per strand per mile, depending on the length of an agreement and whether for rural or urban areas, he said. “That is clearly a wide range of rates,” but it’s “at least a starting point.” The commission could apply the range on a statewide basis, he said.
The PSC should have separate safe harbors for urban and rural leasing rates, argued Woods Aitken attorney Paul Schudel, representing Nebraska rural independent companies. Rural areas tend to have higher rates and less competition, he said. Mirch asked if the commission would be on sound legal ground to set different ranges. Yes, said the lawyer, because the law directs the commission to set market-based rates.