Steve Persinger poses for a portrait in a hoop house, where he and his wife Karen grow herbs like turmeric, at Rising Fawn Gardens on Friday, Feb. 23, 2018, in Rising Fawn, Tenn. Rising Fawn Gardens offers a yoga studio and corporate retreats in addition to growing wheat and herbs, but the only available internet access is via satellite, which has limited capability and speed compared to other broadband offerings. / Staff photo by Doug StricklandA bill to bring faster internet to rural areas in Georgia will limit how far electric membership corporations can spread their service. At the same time, the bill’s sponsor said Thursday, those corporations will be able to partner with other internet providers.
State Rep. Jay Powell, R-Camilla, told the Senate Regulated Industries & Utilities Committee that he is working to compromise with state Sen. Steve Gooch. Both lawmakers sponsored bills to expand broadband internet in the state. Both bills passed their chambers in the last two weeks, and the two sides want to come up with one solution.
Powell said Gooch’s bill limits how far an electric membership corporation can expand broadband. Gooch, R-Dahlonega, would restrict the EMCs’ service to within a 5-mile radius of their designated service areas. Powell told the committee that he will add the same limit to his own bill.
In exchange, he said, Gooch has agreed to let EMCs partner with other providers as part of their broadband expansion plans. Gooch’s bill now does not allow that.
“We want to try to get these bills as much in harmony as possible,” Powell said, “so that neither one of us has heartburn.”