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PCCA Journal|1

st

Quarter 2011

16

tion forecasting. A third element of

the proposal clarifies that transmission

providers have the opportunity, through

a newly proposed schedule, to recover

costs associated with the integration of

variable energy resources and sets forth

the commission’s proposed expectations

that the transmission provider would

need to demonstrate its implementation

of intra-hourly scheduling and power

production forecasting to ensure variable

energy resources are being charged a just

and reasonable rate.

Voters in Four States

Ban Union Card Check

V

oters in four states passed

measures on November 2

to ban the “card check”

method of unionizing. The

ballot measures were supported by 60

percent of voters in Arizona and Utah,

76 percent in South Dakota, and 86 per-

cent in South Carolina. The card-check

method of organizing does away with

the secret ballot in union elections and

instead forces people to publicly sign a

card saying they support unionization.

Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa), chairman

of the Senate Health, Education, Labor

and Pensions Committee, has threatened

to bring up card check legislation in the

lame duck session of Congress, but op-

ponents say that overwhelming opposi-

tion to card check on election day ought

to give him pause about trying to ram it

through.

The U.S. House passed card-check

legislation (the Employee Free Choice

Act) in 2007 but failed to get enough

votes in the Senate to forestall a Republi-

can filibuster. The bill was reintroduced

in 2009 but was never brought up for a

vote in the Democratic-led Congress.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce has

waged an intensive campaign against the

legislation, and the state ballot measures

are part of that campaign. Groups are

planning similar measures on the 2012

ballot in California, Florida, Mississippi,

and Ohio.

NTIA Announces

Final Recovery Act

Investments for State-

Driven Broadband

Activities

T

he Department of Com-

merce’s National Telecom-

munications and Information

Administration (NTIA) in

November announced 56 investments

totaling $190 million to support state ef-

forts to compete in the digital economy.

These are the final awards in the State

Broadband Data and Development

(SBDD) grant program, funded by the

American Recovery and Reinvestment

Act.

“As Congress recognized, many com-

munities are being left behind in the 21

st

Century economy and need improved

broadband access and adoption to com-

pete,” said Assistant Secretary for Com-

munications and Information and NTIA

Administrator Lawrence E. Strickling.

“Each state has unique broadband chal-

lenges, and these investments will sup-

port solutions developed by the states to

harness the power of technology so that

local businesses can thrive and residents

can enjoy a better quality of life.”

NTIA said the 50 states, five territo-

ries, and the District of Columbia will

use this funding to support the efficient

and creative use of broadband technol-

ogy to improve their economies. These

state-created efforts vary depending

on local needs but include programs

to assist small businesses and com-

munity institutions in using technology

more effectively, research to investigate

barriers to broadband adoption, innova-

tive applications that increase access to

government services and information,

and state and local task forces to expand

broadband access and adoption.

Launched in 2009, NTIA’s State

Broadband Data and Development grant

program implements the joint purposes

of the Recovery Act and the Broadband

Data Improvement Act (BDIA), which

envisioned a comprehensive program,

led by state entities or non-profit orga-

nizations working at their direction, to

facilitate the integration of broadband

and information technology into state

and local economies. Economic develop-

ment, energy efficiency, and advances in

education and health care rely not only

on broadband infrastructure, but also on

the knowledge and tools to leverage that

infrastructure.

FCC Releases Mobile

Broadband Spectrum

Forecast

I

n October, the Federal Commu-

nications Commission released a

detailed technical and economic

forecast of mobile broadband

market trends that details the looming

spectrum crunch in a concrete, data-

driven fashion. The National Broadband

Plan recognized the exponential growth

of mobile data usage and recommend-

ed that the FCC make available 500

megahertz (MHz) of new spectrum for

wireless broadband within ten years, in-

cluding 300 MHz for mobile flexible use

within five years. In addition, President

Obama in June directed that 500 MHz

of new spectrum be made available for

mobile and fixed broadband use.

Spectrum is a national resource used

for all forms of wireless communication,

including the use of smartphones. Data

usage over wireless networks is rapidly

increasing as more consumers surf the

News Briefs

Continued from page 14