House Energy panel reviews H.11 to expand broadband consumer protections and reporting

Maria Royal of the Legislative Council gave a line-by-line walkthrough of H.11 on Feb. 12, describing a proposed Vermont Broadband Consumer Protection and Competition Act that would extend net-neutrality protections beyond state contracts to all consumers, add sector-specific consumer-protection rules for broadband providers and create new reporting and market-monitoring duties for the attorney general and the Department of Public Service.

The bill, Royal said, contains legislative findings, definitions of “broadband provider,” “broadband service” and “consumer,” and a set of practices that would be deemed unfair or deceptive under Vermont’s Consumer Protection Act (chapter 63, Title 9). Royal read the bill’s title aloud: “The subchapter shall be known and may be cited as the Vermont Broadband Consumer Protection and Competition Act.”

Why it matters: Royal told the committee that about 15% of Vermont locations—roughly 47,000 addresses—lack access to high-speed broadband and that many more have only a single provider. The bill’s drafters say those conditions can create an imbalance of power between providers and consumers and limit economic, educational and health opportunities in rural areas.

Key provisions explained - Net neutrality: Under current Vermont law (enacted Feb. 2018) net-neutrality certifications apply only to state contracts. H.11 would require providers serving Vermont consumers to comply with net-neutrality requirements (no blocking, throttling, paid prioritization). Royal noted that similar state laws have faced litigation; she referenced recent appeals decisions in other circuits and the Second Circuit’s affirmance in the New York case as background to the constitutional and preemption questions the committee should expect. - Prohibited practices: The bill would treat the following as unfair or deceptive practices under the Consumer Protection Act: failure to deliver the performance a consumer purchased; failing to reimburse installation costs when service is discontinuously noncompliant; misleading marketing; excessive termination fees or other barriers to switching providers; equipment or service fees that do not reasonably correlate to cost; failure to submit broadband-availability data to the Department of Public Service; violations of privacy, security or network-management practices; and the imposition of a “predatory data cap” (defined in the bill). - Predatory data caps: The bill defines a predatory data cap as limits on upload/download usage that impose incremental fees, speed reductions or other penalties not reasonably tailored to network-management needs. Royal and committee members discussed that reasonable caps for network congestion and nondiscriminatory tiered pricing would be permitted, while caps adopted principally to monetize excess revenue would be subject to enforcement. - Complaint collection and provider reporting: H.11 would require providers to maintain a complete record of consumer complaints and submit an annual copy of complaint records to the attorney general beginning Jan. 1, 2027. The attorney general, in consultation with the Department of Public Service, would be required to establish a single statewide protocol and database for receipt and tracking of broadband complaints and to aggregate complaint counts, dispositions and resolution times. - Market monitoring and data submission: The attorney general would routinely monitor market trends—provider counts, market share, ease of entry, consolidation—and the bill requires providers of fixed broadband to submit annual data beginning Oct. 1, 2025. Required data include counts of active plans, technology type (DSL, fiber, hybrid coax), median and mean price and speeds (statewide and by county), years of operation in Vermont, availability mapping data submitted to the Department of Public Service, and FCC broadband data-collection submissions. The bill would require accuracy verification by the oath of two executive officers under penalty of perjury. - Transparency and network practices: Providers would be required to submit current policies and practices regarding network management, security and privacy for aggregation on a public website maintained by the attorney general’s office; the bill also incorporates the FCC broadband “consumer label” concept (price, introductory rates, contract length, itemized fees, upload/download speeds, latency, network-management practices and a customer-support contact). - Enforcement and cost recovery: Violations would be enforceable under the Consumer Protection Act; the attorney general could assess reasonable costs of administering the subchapter to providers on an equitable basis through rulemaking.

VoIP and emergency-preparedness provisions Royal said H.11’s second component addresses voice-over-IP (VoIP) service and emergency readiness. The bill would require the Department of Public Service commissioner to review quarterly outage reports submitted to 911, identify areas prone to outages and assess whether those areas have access to other fixed-voice or mobile service. VoIP providers would file an annual certification that they comply with FCC rules; Royal said the FCC currently requires battery backup for some VoIP offerings (a 24‑hour backup is referenced). The bill also includes consumer-education and outreach provisions about preparing for power outages.

Committee discussion and legal context Committee members asked about existing provider compliance with net-neutrality certifications and the source of data on network-management practices; Royal noted an existing 2018 law requires providers to file network-management practices with the attorney general, and that the AG posts those on its website. Members also asked about legal risk and preemption; Royal reviewed litigation histories in other states, noting courts in the Second and Ninth Circuits have rejected industry preemption arguments in recent decisions but said the scope of state authority remains subject to potential challenge.

Next steps The committee chair said the panel will hear testimony later this week from the Vermont Community Broadband Board, the Department of Public Service, the Agency of Administration and the attorney general’s office before deciding how to proceed on H.11.