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