Mississippi Code 1972 (2023) › Title 77 - PUBLIC UTILITIES AND CARRIERS (§§ 77-1-1 — 77-NEW-NEW-004) › Chapter 5 - ELECTRIC POWER (§§ 77-5-1 — 77-5-911) › Article 19 - MISSISSIPPI ELECTRIC COOPERATIVES BROADBAND COVID-19 ACT (§§ 77-5-901 — 77-5-911) › Section 77-5-911 - Monthly project status reports; requisite information; filing notice of project completion; field or onsite audits, engineering reviews, or requests for additional information to ensure compliance with article; financial information confidential and proprietary; written notice of compliance with article; noncompliant applicants

(1)
Each applicant receiving any grant funds under this article shall monthly file project status reports with the Public Utilities Staff. The initial project status report shall be due on or before September 15, 2020, and updates shall be provided on or before the fifteenth day of each month thereafter until such time as the project is completed. Such reports shall include the following information concerning the project:
(a)
a summary of the work performed,
(b)
an itemization of the expenditures on the project,
(c)
the number of miles of broadband fiber installed,
(d)
the number of residential properties along the route of the installed fiber,
(e)
the number of residential properties taking broadband service using the installed fiber, and
(f)
the estimated project completion percentage.
(2)
Upon its completion of a project funded under this article, the applicant shall promptly file a notice of project completion with the Public Utilities Staff. The notice shall contain the same information as is required to be provided in a monthly status report.
(3)
The Public Utilities Staff may, in its discretion, conduct field audits, onsite audits, or engineering reviews regarding the matters set forth in the report or notice. The Staff may also require the applicant to provide such additional or other information or documentation that the Staff determines is reasonably necessary to ensure compliance with this article and the United States Department of the Treasury regarding the use of monies from the Coronavirus Relief Fund established in Section 5001 of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act.
(4)
Except for the total amount of an applicant's expenditures, any and all financial information contained within an applicant's application, monthly status reports or notice of project completion, including, but not limited to, the cost of fiber or equipment and any other itemized expenditures, is and shall be treated as confidential and proprietary information. Such confidential and proprietary information may be submitted by the applicant to the Staff and/or the department under seal; and such information, if submitted under seal, shall be exempt from the provisions of the Mississippi Public Records Act of 1983 and withheld from public disclosure.
(5)
If the Public Utilities Staff, after reviewing monthly status reports or a notice of project completion, determines that an applicant's project is not in compliance with this article, the Staff shall so notify the applicant in writing and provide the applicant with a reasonable opportunity to bring its project into compliance. If the Staff thereafter determines that the applicant has failed to bring its project into compliance, the Staff shall provide written notice of same to the applicant and the department.
(6)
If the Staff, after reviewing a notice of project completion, finds that a funded project is in compliance with this article, then the Staff shall provide a written notice of compliance to the applicant and to the department.
(7)
An applicant found by the Public Utilities Staff to be fully or materially noncompliant with this article shall return to the state all or a portion of the grant monies received, as determined by the department. Applicants shall confirm their understanding of these terms in their primary and/or secondary applications.
(8)
The Mississippi Public Utilities Staff shall ensure grant monies are spent in compliance with this article and in compliance with the guidelines, guidance, rules, regulations and/or other criteria, as may be amended from time to time, of the United States Department of the Treasury regarding the use of monies from the Coronavirus Relief Fund established in Section 5001 of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act. Upon request of the Governor, Lieutenant Governor, the Speaker of the House, the Chairman of the Senate Energy Committee or the Chairman of the House Public Utilities Committee, the Staff shall provide a report of the status of the Grant Programs, provided that said report does not disclose any confidential or proprietary information.
Amended by Laws, 2020, ch. 495, SB 3054,§ 1, (became law without the Governor's signature on September 1, 2020).
Added by Laws, 2020, ch. 487, SB 3046,§ 6, (became law without the Governor's signature on July 9, 2020).