Existing law requires the Public Utilities Commission to establish the Rural and Urban Regional Broadband Consortia Grant Account in the California Advanced Services Fund and makes the moneys in the account available for grants to eligible consortia to facilitate deployment of broadband services by assisting infrastructure applicants in the project development or grant application process. Existing law requires each consortium to conduct an annual audit of its expenditures for programs funded pursuant to those provisions and to submit to the commission an annual report that includes specified information.

This bill would instead require moneys in the Rural and Urban Regional Broadband Consortia Account to be available for grants to eligible consortia to promote regional economic prosperity by conducting activities that will close the digital divide, promote digital inclusion, and achieve digital equity, as provided. The bill would require the commission to approve a regional work plan for each consortium consistent with a standardized scope of work determined by the commission, as provided. The bill would require the commission to allocate sufficient funds to the account to provide multiyear grants to eligible consortia to engage and regularly convene identified representatives and to implement an approved regional work plan, as specified. The bill would require the annual base funding grant per consortium to be no less than $200,000, plus an increased amount based on the number of unserved and underserved locations and the number of low-income households in the region, but not to exceed $500,000 per consortium per year. The bill would delete the requirement for each consortium to conduct an annual audit and would revise the information required to be included in the annual report to the commission. The bill would authorize the commission to engage experienced nonprofit organizations through an open, competitive process to assist the commission and support the consortia, as provided.

Under existing law, a violation of the Public Utilities Act or any order, decision, rule, direction, demand, or requirement of the commission is a crime.