New laws allow PUDs to offer retail broadband; Grant PUD stays put

Two new state laws, House Bill 1336 and Senate Bill 5383, enable public entities, including not-for-profit, community-owned public utility districts, to provide retail broadband service to end-users, according to the Washington PUD Association, which supported the legislation.

Grant County PUD plans to continue to focus on building its wholesale broadband network.

“Broadband service is no longer a luxury. This was demonstrated by the pandemic when our ability to educate our children, connect with services including health care, and telecommute was dependent on broadband service,” said George Caan, executive director of the Washington PUD Association, in a press release.

The new laws expand PUD broadband authority. Since 2000, PUDs have had the authority to offer wholesale telecommunications services, and PUDs have invested more than $509 million in broadband infrastructure, according to WPUDA. Of the association’s 27 member PUDs, 15 provide wholesale telecommunications services.

“Under the new law, individual PUDs will consider the needs of their customers when deciding whether to provide retail telecommunications service,” said Caan in the release. “PUDs are community-owned, so each PUD operates differently and is responsive to the needs of their community.”

Grant County Public Utility District is staying out of the retail internet business, Ryan Holterhoff, Grant PUD public information officer, told the Columbia Basin Herald.

“Grant PUD will not be offering retail services. The existing wholesale model has worked well in Grant County and our focus remains on our construction efforts to expand the wholesale network to the remaining portions of the county,” Holterhoff said.