West Virginia's BEAD Pause and Revamp Could Be Popular Path for States

West Virginia is doing “exactly what needs to be done,” said Mytra Consulting CEO John Greene. BEAD participation by prospective subgrantees has been stymied somewhat by the program’s requirements and conditions, and many of those conditions are seemingly going by the wayside under the Trump administration, Greene said. NTIA “is not going to say no” to a state seeking a pause to revamp its rules in line with administration policy priorities, he said, adding that the Commerce Department might ultimately balk at handing out BEAD money to states that have programs based around the current guidelines and rules.

Greene said states that don't revamp their BEAD programs in line with whatever guidance Commerce issues could face litigation from disgruntled companies that weren’t chosen as subgrantees under the Biden-era rules. He said states need to be looking now at whether the likely changes would alter how they set up their subgrantee scoring.

Jake Varn, associate manager with Pew’s broadband access initiative, said states “absolutely” are watching what happens in West Virginia, while also anxiously awaiting NTIA administrative guidance about changes. It’s still unclear whether Commerce’s NTIA will make changes that largely revamp BEAD, or if there will be “around the edges” tweaks that won’t require states to redo work, he said.

NTIA didn’t comment. More than 100 state legislators from 28 states wrote Commerce last week, urging that the agency defer to states on whatever BEAD program changes they adopt (see 2504030065).

Broadband Council founder Jim Herbert said it's unclear if there's enough information for states to commit yet to a new direction. "I would certainly not want to bet the ranch on a certain set of commitments going forward."

Thirty-plus states are in their subgrantee stages and face nearing deadlines for finishing their final proposals, said Drew Garner, director-policy engagement at the Benton Institute for Broadband & Society. But they're caught between a rock and a hard place: those deadlines and the knowledge that rules changes are coming. He added that seeking extensions like West Virginia has to be top of mind for many. It's easy to see how BEAD changes such as a per-location price cap or elimination of the low-cost option could invalidate a lot of work states are doing now, Garner said.

States having to redo their programs’ scoring could face pushback by states as well as providers. Varn said providers that want to be subgrantees end up devoting significant time to putting together applications and spending considerable amounts on consultants and engineers.

Other states will likely follow West Virginia's lead and seek more time before submitting their final BEAD program proposals to NTIA, Klein Law communications lawyer Philip Macres wrote last week. "Other states that want their BEAD program proposals to be promptly approved by NTIA will follow WV's approach."

In a press conference last week, West Virginia Gov. Patrick Morrisey (R) said the 90-day pause gives the state time "to develop policy consistent with where the Trump administration and where Commerce is that can ultimately bring broadband to West Virginia at a much higher level." While the application was due April 18, it was clear there would be changes in the BEAD rollout, so the state is hoping to get additional guidance from the administration, he said. It "would have been foolish to submit something" certain to be denied. The state was looking at a "more technology-neutral" approach.