Maryland Legislators Warned to Think Through Deregulating Co-Ops for Broadband
Trying to spur rural broadband by removing regulatory oversight of electric cooperatives could have consequences for electric rates, reliability and other consumer protections overseen by the commission, cautioned Maryland Public Service Commission Chairman Jason Stanek at a Senate Finance Committee…
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hearing livestreamed Tuesday from Annapolis. Officially, the commission is neutral on SB-540. Commissioner Anthony O’Donnell urged lawmakers to “think very carefully” about ramifications of removing oversight. Maryland Deputy People’s Counsel William Fields fears deregulation could raise consumers' electric rates. Sen. Malcolm Augustine (D) agrees. The legislation is critical to cleaning up state barriers keeping co-ops from providing broadband service to the eastern shore, said sponsor Sen. Stephen Hershey (R). “If we don’t do this, we have no other options on the table." Rate hikes are less a danger with cooperatives that are regulated by members, he said. Verizon supports the proposal as good for consumers and competition, and Hershey is working on getting Comcast support, he said. The bill would immediately support Choptank Electric Cooperative’s broadband business model, said Hershey and co-op officials. Choptank would be able to start rolling out service in Q1 2021, and within 10 years cover Maryland’s entire eastern shore with gigabit fiber service, testified CEO Mike Malandro. Comcast supported SB-790 at the hearing. It would direct the Department of Information Technology to waive resource sharing agreement fees for last-mile broadband projects in unserved areas and exempt private entities from DoIT project reviews if they have a separate right to access to install communications lines and facilities in the right of way. DoIT last summer misinterpreted a 1996 law and started to charge resource-sharing fees to ISPs, said Comcast Vice President-State Government Sean Looney. That stopped work by Comcast, Verizon and others in the right of way for eight months, he said.