EPB’s newest high-tech venture got an old-fashioned sign of scorn on Friday.
The Beacon Center, a Nashville-based watchdog group that advocates free-market approaches to public policy, gave its annual “Lump of Coal” award to the Chattanooga utility for its federally funded investment in a fiber-optic network.
EPB now boasts the fastest citywide Internet service of any Web service in America.
But the Beacon group claims the service was built on the backs of taxpayers and ratepayers. Beacon CEO Justin Owen said EPB is Tennessee’s biggest Grinch in 2012 for using taxpayer grants and electricity-backed bonds to pay for telecom services that compete with Comcast, AT&T and other private companies.
“The public utility has squandered millions competing with the private sector in its quest to rule the Internet market throughout Southeast Tennessee,” Owen said.