California Public Utilities Commission’s Post

We recently attended a historic California Department of Technology, Caltrans, and Arcadian Infracom groundbreaking ceremony with the Mayor and Council members in Willits. The 288-count fiber optic cable will connect a trans-Pacific undersea cable landing in Arcata and data centers along San Jose-Sacramento-Reno and Los Angeles-Las Vegas routes, and, most importantly, will support last-mile internet service in California unserved rural communities along the way.

🌟 Exciting news from the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC)! 🌟 We’re proud to share that the CPUC has been awarded the 2024 Best of California Innovation Serving the Public Award at Government Technology’s California Government Innovation Summit 2024 for our cutting-edge Broadband Grant Portal! This achievement reflects the CPUC’s dedication to ensuring that $2 billion joint, multi-year, federal and state-funded program funds—critical to California’s broadband future—was timely implemented. When Senate Bill 156 tasked us with managing grants for last-mile broadband networks, we rose to the challenge, creating a system that not only met an urgent need but also redefined how the public sector approaches grant management. Highlights of the Broadband Grant Portal: ✅  Swift & Impactful: Developed under tight deadlines, this system safeguarded vital Federal funds, directly contributing to California’s broadband expansion. ✅  Pioneering Innovation: By revolutionizing our processes, the system set a new industry standard for efficiency and effectiveness in public sector grant management. ✅  Broad Social Impact: This system is already making a difference by expanding broadband access to underserved communities, helping to bridge the digital divide. A huge thank you to our exceptional CPUC Broadband Grant Portal project team for their dedication and hard work. Special recognition goes to Maria Isabel Ellis (Restrepo Florez), Deputy Director, Broadband; Lea Haro, PhD, Federal Funding Account Supervisor; Nicholas Bui, Budgets and Fiscal Team Supervisor; Rena Francis, IT Project Manager; Dmitriy Makarov, IT technical SME and Adriana Barajas, IT Contract Administrator. And an incredible multi-disciplinary and cross-functional team of CPUC employees. Your contributions were pivotal in making this success a reality We’re excited to continue our mission to ensure all Californians have access to essential digital resources. 👉Broadband Grant Portal: https://lnkd.in/g97X-9xe 👉 Explore our work : https://lnkd.in/gVU7JG3p #Innovation #Broadband #DigitalEquity #PublicSector #California #CPUC #GovernmentInnovation #DigitalDivide

Congratulations to our Energy Efficiency Branch! Seven CPUC employees were chosen as authors during the The American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE) conference. The topic was Advancing Equity in California’s Energy Efficiency Landscape. Jessie Levine Ely Jacobsohn Simran Kaur Gillian W. Savannah McLaughlin Leanne Hoadley