Nearly one in three co-ops turning down BEAD money, NRECA tells Lutnick
NRECA says 63 co-operatives won BEAD funding in 27 states, but nearly one in three have pulled out — with one co-op's US-made fibre prices jumping 40% in August alone.
Nearly one in three electric co-operatives that won funding under the $42.45 billion Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) programme have pulled out, with more considering withdrawal, according to their main industry group.
The National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA) told Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick in a 16 September letter that 63 co-operatives had won BEAD funding across 27 states — but the economics no longer add up for many of them, Broadband Breakfast reported on 21 September.
Members told NRECA that one provider’s US-made fibre prices jumped 40% in August alone, as equipment and labour costs and supply-chain pressures bite.
The letter from NRECA chief executive Jim Matheson calls for reforms to both the initial deployment phase and the forthcoming supplemental round: higher cost thresholds, a raised Build America, Buy America de minimis threshold with the “arbitrary” $1 million per-project cap scrapped, and the removal of extra-statutory mandates such as forcing statutorily exempt pole owners to follow FCC pole-attachment rules.
The NTIA has announced a supplemental round of BEAD funding to reach locations left out of state plans because of subgrantee withdrawals, programme defaults or FCC map changes — the very churn NRECA says it wants fixed.
Matheson warned earlier this month that “BEAD’s initial investment is failing rural America”, blaming delayed implementation, shifting guidance and unrealistic funding assumptions. NRECA represents about 900 electric co-ops nationwide, around 200 of which deliver broadband.
Sources
- Jake Neenan, “Nearly One in Three Co-ops Turning Down BEAD Money, NRECA Says”, Broadband Breakfast, 21 September 2026
- “Matheson Letter to Secretary Lutnick on BEAD Issues September 2026”, National Rural Electric Cooperative Association
- Nicole Ferraro, “Electric co-ops want a BEAD ‘course correction’”, Light Reading, 9 September 2026
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