Minutes 03-21-2022 Virtual Legislative Breakfast

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5 Representative Meyer and Senator Foushee asked to talk with Commissioner Greene separately about the terms of accepting state funding. Representative Meyer said that the state will spend a lot of money on broadband within the next two to six years. He said it will create a few challenges. He says one challenge is the timeframe; six years is a long time to wait when you need broadband access. He said they are essentially setting up unregulated monopolies with government funding. He said it will create an incentive for broadband companies to set high rates. He said the only way keep things affordable is through market competition, which will probably have to come through multiple modes of internet availability. He said that different approaches each have limitations. He said he wondered if there is a way to promote internet service via cell phone signals in Orange County to compliment developments with other funding sources. Commissioner Hamilton said she felt that creating unregulated monopolies is a problem. She said if the country had approached broadband as a regulated monopoly, then it would be treated as a basic utility service. She said if fiber to the home gets a consumer what they need, then the company can initially set prices to push away competitors. She said then the company can lock in that customer and raise prices. She said there needs to be regulation in order to serve people at a price they can afford. She asked if there was any talk about that at the state level. Representative Meyer said that Commissioner Greene is correct, the laws are being written as much by the industry as well as the legislators. He said everything he has talked about with broadband pilot legislative leaders around regulation has been rejected. He gave an example of when he wanted to offer telecomm companies more money to install infrastructure in a 2-year timeframe rather than 6 years, but was rejected because telecomm companies wanted control, not more money. Chair Price said it is a challenge to get it installed, and then it is a challenge to make it affordable. Representative Meyer said that the companies want the government to provide subsidies to make it affordable. Commissioner Greene said that is not the answer and it is not sustainable. She said that the county broadband committee wants to have competition within the fiber to the home realm. Chair Price said that rural counties across the country are screaming at Congress to provide broadband. She said it is hard for services and business to exist without broadband, such as schools and health facilities, but even farms and ranches. She said that even if Congress does do something for rural counties, it is usually based on income. She said currently Orange County is in a higher tier and does not qualify for as much funding. Chair Price asked if Representative Insko wanted to talk about environmental legislation. Representative Insko said she is more aware of climate change. She said that counties and the state should do more to combat climate change, and hopes that Orange County would do more. Chair Price said that the county has a fund that goes to climate change projects. Commissioner Fowler said she is the liaison to the climate change council. She said that Orange County needs a climate plan, which was requested by Commissioner Bedford a few months prior. She said the new sustainability coordinator will begin developing the plan. She said that electric vehicles and improving the efficiency of school and county buildings will be key projects for the county. She said several states participate in an initiative called Regional Greenhouse Gas Emissions (RGGE). She said wrote a letter to a member of the state environmental council to request that North Carolina join that initiative.