On November 15, 2021, Venable partner Craig Gilley published “Real-World Data Demonstrates FCC Should Rethink 6 GHz Decision” in Real Clear Energy. The following is an excerpt:
Could satisfying our voracious addiction to cheap wireless devices destroy our ability to protect the electric grid? Recent actions by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) make that possibility all too real. It’s not too late to change direction. When people think about national energy policy, the FCC, our nation’s top telecommunications regulator, typically doesn’t come to mind. But the FCC has inserted itself at the center of how we safeguard our electric grid, myopically choosing to promote new WiFi devices over grid safety at all costs. In its zeal to create as much new and cheap consumer-focused 5G WiFi capacity as soon as possible, the FCC has compromised the nation’s electric utilities’ ability to effectively communicate with their distribution and generation facilities, especially in time of disaster or emergency.
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