Virginia Taps Electric Companies to Help Expand Rural Broadband Access

Investor-owned utilities—usually large, publicly traded electricity providers that are regulated by state public utility commissions—can have a major impact in delivering broadband to rural communities and other underserved areas by allowing broadband providers to leverage existing utility infrastructure for new high-speed internet connections. Virginia is one of the first states to employ this strategy through its Utility Leverage Program, which aligns the state’s broadband goals with efforts to modernize its electrical infrastructure to successfully expand broadband service into areas that lack access. Launched as a pilot in 2019, the program provides a mechanism for investor-owned utilities to lease fiber capacity to broadband providers in unserved areas in the state. The program focuses on facilitating “middle-mile” connections—the part of a network that links the large fiber optic pipes that are the main data routes for the internet (called the “backbone”), with the “last mile,” which is the network segment built by broadband providers that connects a local provider to a customer. Virginia’s General Assembly made the program permanent in 2021 and has since seen it yield several successful middle-mile partnerships between investor-owned utilities, broadband providers, and localities. Virginia’s experience with this strategy can offer a roadmap for other states. More information can be found here.