The Summerland Advocate-Messenger - Reliable, Trustworthy Reporting, Capturing The Heartbeat Of Our Community

As families are preparing the return to school and fall sports practices are beginning, the hard work and great memories of county fairs starting to wrap up and farmers beginning to see their crops take shape in the field after another tumultuous year of weather, things have also been very active and busy at your Nebraska Public Service Commission as well this summer.

Last November, I was elected by you to serve as the new Public Service Commissioner for the 31 counties of PSC District 4. I am excited to be serving you in this new role and to be bringing our voice back to the PSC.

It's been just over seven months since taking the oath of office and I wanted to share another update on the work that has been getting done over the past three months since I wrote the spring 2023 update.

Many who are reading this likely have not heard much of the happenings and work of the PSC as it is an elected body in Nebraska that does not typically receive a lot of media coverage.

The Nebraska Public Service Commission is an elected five-member statewide board that oversees several industries which affect everyday lives, including broadband internet and telecommunications, the 911 network and service, oil and natural gas pipeline routes and industry regulation, railroad lines, commercial grain storage licensing, commercial ground transportation licensing and regulation, and modular/manufactured housing safety regulation.

The summer months have been fast and full with a lot of productive work. I continue to be incredibly thankful to the PSC staff for their passion, dedication and expertise in helping all of us commissioners do our jobs effectively and carry out our service to the people who elected us.

One of the biggest votes of the summer at the PSC was the unanimous awarding of federal Capital Projects Fund broadband expansion grants, totaling $61 million, statewide. These were federal funds that were designated to Nebraska because of the passage of the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021. Of the $61 million in statewide grants awarded, the majority of the funds, $36.2 million, are going to build out and serve 35 towns and rural project areas within District 4. As a result of this round of grants, roughly 21,000 homes across all of Nebraska will be getting connected to high speed and reliable broadband internet. This accounted for 23% of all Nebraska homes still lacking broadband access.

This momentous allocation of broadband expansion funds for Nebraska is in addition to the news that Nebraska will also be receiving another $405 million in federal broadband funds through the broadband Equity and Access Deployment program, to be distributed by the Nebraska broadband Office over the next two years. The PSC and several stakeholders were vital in getting Nebraska an additional roughly $100 million allocated to our state through this federal program, due to bulk service location challenges made to the Federal Communications Commission National broadband Map.In addition to these exciting developments on the broadband expansion front, the PSC also began discussions to launch a third round of the state-funded broadband Bridge Grant Program later this year, voted to keep the Nebraska Universal Service Fund rate the same as last year and held a hearing to implement a freeze on any taxpayer support dollars going toward any companies operating in Nebraska that have certain FCC-prohibited telecommunications equipment from China in use on their networks.

The PSC also approved annual funding for several 911 call centers across Nebraska and funding for the implementation of the Next Generation 911 System, announced the hire of a motive power and equipment railroad and train safety inspector, approved penalties against several out-of-compliance motor transportation carriers, approved penalties against a few commercial grain-storage facilities that were out of compliance to protect ag producers, set a grain storage rate range for commercial grain-storage facilities to follow also protecting farmers, and reviewed natural gas providers' policies to make it easier for customers to understand their service and bills.

As summer is for most Nebraskans, it was an exciting and busy time at the Public Service Commission as well. I pledge to continue working hard for all the people of the fourth district and I will continue keeping you informed by sharing these quarterly updates to local newspapers and media outlets throughout PSC District Four, as well as posting them on the PSC website and my social media pages.

If you have any questions or have an issue that relates to any of the industries the PSC works with that I or our staff can assist with, reach out to our office at 402-471-3101 or by email at [email protected].

I am truly thankful for this opportunity and honor you have entrusted me with to make Nebraska an even better place to call home and I am excited for this time of serving you on the Nebraska Public Service Commission.