Tri-County Effort in the Works to Strengthen Broadband

A tri-county effort to strengthen broadband is in the works. Last week the Lassen County Board of Supervisors discussed applying for the half a million dollars available through California Public Utilities Commission funding. Plumas and sierra counties have also been in talks to apply for the same funding that is part of a 6 billion dollar federal disbursement to bring broadband to the country’s most rural areas. Lassen and Plumas are both members of the Golden State Authority, an entity that will serve as the grant manager in partnership with the counties. A representative from the GSA attended the Plumas Board of supervisors meeting on August 16th, sharing there have been talks with the internet provider and has received letters of support from Plumas Sierra Telecom and the City of Susanville. Separate applications for the funds would overlap utility jurisdictions and delay progress. It was encouraged that multi-county support would strengthen the application process. The counties will have until the end of this month to apply.