Energy and Climate

High quality, affordable broadband is foundational for a prosperous 21st century Appalachia. Children and families—and the local businesses, schools and health care institutions that serve them—require broadband to ensure their well-being. All Appalachians, regardless of their income or race, must be able to access the internet. Universal broadband is also necessary for a smart grid. 

Advanced broadband is a high-tech phenomenon of today. Farming is a practice that stretches back ten thousand years. Together, they can help fight the continuing impact of climate change. Today’s high-tech farming depends on data – from remote sensors, from tractors, irrigation equipment, nutrient application machinery, and harvesters that communicate.

House Science Committee Chairwoman Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX) wrote Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai expressing concern about the potential interference of planned urban 5G networks with existing weather satellite sensors. The sensors, mounted aboard polar-orbiting satellites, are used to discern the presence and properties of water vapor in Earth’s atmosphere.

Meteorologists and other experts are urging the Federal Communications Commission to drop a spectrum-sharing plan that they say could interfere with transmissions of weather-satellite imagery. The dispute is over the 1675-1680MHz frequencies and is separate from the other FCC/weather controversy, which involves the 24GHz band and has pitted the FCC against NASA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and the US Navy. 

While telecommunication giants are boasting faster, unlimited wireless connectivity for their mobile phone users under the long-awaited fifth generation wireless network (5G), the energy industry is worried. Energy groups are warning regulators that a 5G rollout without securing adequate bandwidth for the sector could cause major harm to the nation’s electric grid and critical infrastructure.

The Utilities Technology Council, a trade group representing hundreds of US utility companies, is urging federal agencies to make sure that power and electricity providers retain control of interference-free spectrum so they can continue to operate their own private wireless networks. Utilities Technology Council noted that part of the reason utilities need their own licensed spectrum is because “utilities have built out and maintained their own ICT networks, rather than outsourcing service from commercial telecommunications carriers.

The receding ice has opened new passageways for high-speed internet cables. Point Hope, a gravel spit in northwest Alaska, is along one of the new routes.