The California Public Utilities Commission held a public office hour to clarify the state’s subgrantee selection process for the National Telecommunications and Information Administration’s BEAD program and to answer technical questions from prospective applicants.

Program staff front-loaded deadlines and procedural details. The CPUC said the subgrantee prequalification portal will open March 25 and remain open through April 24; the project-application window will open April 2 and close May 2. Manager Jonathan Lacker said, “we will be posting within the next 2 weeks, probably within the next week, a prerecorded, technical video,” and that additional guidance and a project-application guide will follow. The session recording and written Q&A will be posted to the CPUC website.

Why it matters: the answers affect how applicants design projects, calculate match and price proposals, and whether proposed projects remain eligible as other federal awards are made. Staff warned applicants to submit their best prices because limited time for negotiation is expected.

Key clarifications and staff guidance

- Portal timing and access: CPUC staff said prequalification opens March 25; applicants that submit prequalification will immediately gain access to the project-application portal while it is open.

- Project-area rules: California will allow applicants to define project areas (the smallest unit accepted is a census block group). Staff said applicants may propose project areas that meet NTIA criteria but must ensure a minimum share of eligible unserved/underserved locations in the area per program rules.

- Deduplication / reconciliation: CPUC will run an initial mapping and then a second deduplication (reconciliation) after subgrantee selection but before submitting the state’s final BEAD proposal to NTIA to remove locations with enforceable commitments from other federal awards.

- “90%” alternative pricing: CPUC staff clarified that the alternative backup pricing option that requires serving “at least 90%” refers to 90% of eligible locations (total eligible BSLs) within the proposed project area, not 90% of only the unserved or only the underserved.

- Matching funds and eligible expenses: Staff said matching funds are allowable in general but emphasized that matching amounts must be for NTIA-eligible BEAD expenses. As Jonathan Lacker and other staff noted, a pure in-home router would not automatically qualify under NTIA rules, but some combination devices that are required to establish connectivity can be eligible; applicants should document eligibility.

- Priority for funding categories: CPUC staff confirmed the program’s priority order follows NTIA guidance—unserved and underserved locations are prioritized; community anchor institutions (CAIs) are considered after those categories and may be funded only if funds remain and program rules allow.

- Application mechanics: Applicants can add collaborators in the portal; a single organizational account can add multiple users. Each distinct noncontiguous project area requires its own project application, although a single prequalification submission enables access to project applications.

Staff cautioned that many technical or program-specific questions raised in the session require written responses or subject-matter follow-up; CPUC will publish an updated FAQ on a regular cadence (staff said they plan to post updates roughly every other week during the application period).

What CPUC directed or committed to do

- Post a prerecorded technical video and an associated PowerPoint with additional guidance.

- Publish an updated FAQ and the project application guide in the coming days and continue regular FAQ updates throughout the application process.

- Take complex or case-specific questions offline (for example, deduplication edge cases, SQL exemption questions, and some matching-fund nuances) and respond in the FAQ or via direct staff follow-up.

The session included CPUC staff and technical partners from CTC Technology & Energy and invited participants. No formal actions or votes were taken during the office hour; the meeting was informational and aimed at improving applicants’ ability to prepare complete and compliant BEAD subgrantee proposals.