Cantwell, Capito Propose Broadband Buildout Along America’s Electricity Grid
Last week, U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), Chair of the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, and U.S. Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, introduced the Grant to Rapidly Invest and Deploy Broadband, or GRID Broadband Act, a pioneering proposal that would provide a robust new federal cost-share to spur investment in a nationwide middle-mile backbone along the nation’s existing electricity grid. The goal of this bipartisan initiative is to help provide affordable high-speed Internet options to the 120 million American households that lack connectivity and enhance the resiliency, diversity, and security of America’s electrical grid.