CTIA, USTelecom Raise Concerns With California's New BEAD Plan
CTIA and USTelecom urged the California Public Utilities Commission not to give commission staff full authority over the state's BEAD subgrantee scoring and selection process. The groups also raised concerns in separate comments posted Friday (docket 23-02-016) about the CPUC not holding public comment or providing more information about its scoring criteria.
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Whatever changes the commission made to its previously approved plan "are not self-evident," CTIA said, adding that "any opportunity for meaningful changes to staff's decisions will be lost" by the time there's an opportunity for public comment. A proposed decision, written by Commissioner Darcie Houck ahead of the CPUC's meeting Thursday, said the CPUC has "the authority to delegate to staff the ministerial review" of BEAD applications. USTelecom took issue with that, saying "the implementation of a new scoring rubric is not a ministerial duty" and "lies at the center of successful administration of the BEAD program. The group added that the CPUC "should not sacrifice proper notice and transparency in the process to the detriment of applicants and program success."
The Utility Reform Network (TURN) also commented on the proposed decision. Although it opposed NTIA's revisions, the group backed the draft item and encouraged the commission to seek a waiver from NTIA of the Sept. 4 deadline. Given NTIA's "unreasonably accelerated deadlines," TURN urged the CPUC to add language clarifying that it will reconsider the need for a "reduced public review and comment period" should it receive a waiver for an extension to submit a final proposal.