On November 21st, AGC of America’s Broadband and Energy Task Force held their first meeting. The task force intends to develop priorities for Congress and the Administration on how to effectively expand our country’s broadband and energy infrastructure network.
The need for a task force was largely driven by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) providing $65 billion for broadband projects and $73 billion for the electric grid and clean energy projects. In addition to the IIJA, the Inflation Reduction Act provides more than $300 billion for clean energy projects via tax credits. Despite the record funding through the IIJA, the federal government has been slow to approve broadband projects, and no broadband projects have broken ground. Additionally, energy project expansion has been mired in environmental permitting review delays.
The task force is looking for additional volunteers, which will require only roughly one hour of time per month. If you, or anyone at your company, are interested in joining, please reach out to John Chambers, Utility Infrastructure Division Director.