{"id":1018,"date":"2025-02-17T18:41:28","date_gmt":"2025-02-17T18:41:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.sandiego.edu\/cpil-blog\/?p=1018"},"modified":"2025-02-17T18:41:28","modified_gmt":"2025-02-17T18:41:28","slug":"the-cpuc-approves-32-5-million-for-broadband-infrastructure-projects","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.sandiego.edu\/cpil-blog\/2025\/02\/17\/the-cpuc-approves-32-5-million-for-broadband-infrastructure-projects\/","title":{"rendered":"The CPUC Approves $32.5 Million for Broadband Infrastructure Projects"},"content":{"rendered":"<h3>By Steven Soldani<\/h3>\n<p>On January 16, 2025, the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) <a href=\"https:\/\/perma.cc\/V8TU-UEXC\">approved<\/a> $32.5 million in grants to fund broadband infrastructure projects across the state. These grants are part of a broader initiative under <a href=\"https:\/\/leginfo.legislature.ca.gov\/faces\/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202120220SB156\">SB 156 (Committee on Budget and Fiscal Review) (Chapter 112, Statutes of 2021)<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/leginfo.legislature.ca.gov\/faces\/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201720180AB1665\">AB 1665 (Eduardo Garcia) (Chapter 851, Statutes of 2017)<\/a>, both of which seek to enhance broadband deployment throughout the state.<\/p>\n<p>SB 156 established the foundation for California\u2019s historic three-year $6 billion investment in broadband infrastructure. The legislation allocated significant funding to the state\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/perma.cc\/C4HJ-LRPY\">Middle-Mile Broadband Initiative<\/a> and the <a href=\"https:\/\/perma.cc\/J8ZW-S4AU\">Last-Mile Broadband Infrastructure Grant Program<\/a>, both of which focus on providing broadband to remote areas in California. AB 1665 established funding for the program by refining the grant allocation processes and prioritizing projects that serve rural, low-income, and tribal communities.<\/p>\n<p>The latest round of funding, approved by CPUC, will support seven projects designed to deliver high-speed internet to approximately 8,000 Californians across the state. The funding for CPUC\u2019s broadband grants primarily comes from state and federal sources, including California\u2019s General Fund (SB 156), California Advanced Services Fund, and federal sources such as the American Rescue Plan Act, which provided funding for broadband infrastructure, as well as several other federal programs.<\/p>\n<p>The Little Hoover Commission previously addressed California\u2019s broadband challenges. In December 2020, they published an issue brief titled \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/perma.cc\/7NVL-THVA\">California&#8217;s Digital Divide<\/a>,\u201d highlighting that, at the time, approximately 2.3 million Californians lacked broadband access. The brief emphasized the impact of this gap on education, economic productivity, and access to government services. Little Hoover Commission Chair Pedro Nava said, \u201cWe hope these Issue Briefs will serve as a resource for state policymakers and others to enrich the conversations surrounding key challenges and issues facing California.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The CPUC previously <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cpuc.ca.gov\/news-and-updates\/all-news\/cpuc-reaches-milestone-$1-billion-in-broadband-grants-to-connect-communities-across-california\">granted<\/a> $225 million on December 19, 2024, and $157 million on November 12, 2024. Since 2006, the CPUC has awarded approximately $1 billion in funding for projects in 52 counties.<\/p>\n<a class=\"synved-social-button synved-social-button-follow synved-social-size-32 synved-social-resolution-single synved-social-provider-facebook nolightbox\" data-provider=\"facebook\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\" title=\"Follow us on Facebook\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/CPILUSD\" style=\"font-size: 0px;width:32px;height:32px;margin:0;margin-bottom:5px;margin-right:5px\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Facebook\" title=\"Follow us on Facebook\" class=\"synved-share-image synved-social-image synved-social-image-follow\" width=\"32\" height=\"32\" style=\"display: inline;width:32px;height:32px;margin: 0;padding: 0;border: none;box-shadow: none\" src=\"https:\/\/sites.sandiego.edu\/cpil-blog\/wp-content\/plugins\/social-media-feather\/synved-social\/addons\/extra-icons\/image\/social\/circle\/64x64\/facebook.png\" \/><\/a><a class=\"synved-social-button synved-social-button-follow synved-social-size-32 synved-social-resolution-single synved-social-provider-twitter nolightbox\" data-provider=\"twitter\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\" title=\"Follow us on Twitter\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/cpilusd\" style=\"font-size: 0px;width:32px;height:32px;margin:0;margin-bottom:5px\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"twitter\" title=\"Follow us on Twitter\" class=\"synved-share-image synved-social-image synved-social-image-follow\" width=\"32\" height=\"32\" style=\"display: inline;width:32px;height:32px;margin: 0;padding: 0;border: none;box-shadow: none\" src=\"https:\/\/sites.sandiego.edu\/cpil-blog\/wp-content\/plugins\/social-media-feather\/synved-social\/addons\/extra-icons\/image\/social\/circle\/64x64\/twitter.png\" \/><\/a>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Steven Soldani On January 16, 2025, the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) approved $32.5 million in grants to fund broadband infrastructure projects across the state. These grants are part of a broader initiative under SB 156 (Committee on Budget <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/sites.sandiego.edu\/cpil-blog\/2025\/02\/17\/the-cpuc-approves-32-5-million-for-broadband-infrastructure-projects\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1013,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[132866,132865],"tags":[138324,137864,132867,138322,138320,138321,137773,138323],"coauthors":[138175],"class_list":["post-1018","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-major-projects","category-public-utilities-commission","tag-ab-1665","tag-broadband","tag-cpuc","tag-last-mile-broadband","tag-littel-hoover-commission","tag-middle-mile-broadband","tag-public-utilities","tag-sb156"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>The CPUC Approves $32.5 Million for Broadband Infrastructure Projects - Consumer Protection Policy Center - Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sites.sandiego.edu\/cpil-blog\/2025\/02\/17\/the-cpuc-approves-32-5-million-for-broadband-infrastructure-projects\/\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The CPUC Approves $32.5 Million for Broadband Infrastructure Projects - Consumer Protection Policy Center - Blog\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Steven Soldani On January 16, 2025, the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) approved $32.5 million in grants to fund broadband infrastructure projects across the state. 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