(a) On or before January 1, 2022, the Commissioner of Energy and Environmental Protection shall establish and administer a grant program, subject to the availability of federal funding, to support the deployment of broadband Internet access service. The commissioner shall establish criteria consistent with any requirement of federal law for the grants, including, but not limited to, (1) application requirements, (2) applicant eligibility, (3) addressing unserved areas in distressed municipalities, (4) broadband Internet access service speed, and (5) an applicant’s commitment to pay at least twenty per cent of the costs for any project entered into pursuant to this section with such applicant’s own funding, provided such funding does not derive from government grants, loans or subsidies to said applicant. In awarding such grants, the commissioner may give priority to applicants based on the percentage of said applicant’s commitment to cost sharing. The commissioner may deny applications from broadband Internet access service providers that do not provide information to the Office of Policy and Management pursuant to subsection (c) of § 16-330b or to the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection pursuant to subsection (b) of § 16-330d. The commissioner may employ outside consultants in developing and implementing said grant program.

(b) On or before January 1, 2023, and every year thereafter for a period of five years after receiving a grant pursuant to this section, the recipient of such grant shall submit a report to the Commissioner of Energy and Environmental Protection concerning the status of such recipient’s broadband Internet access service deployment and other information deemed relevant by the commissioner.

(c) On or before December 1, 2022, and every two years thereafter, the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, in consultation with the Office of Policy and Management, the Office of State Broadband, the Commission for Educational Technology and other state agencies deemed appropriate by the Commissioner of Energy and Environmental Protection, shall report to the Governor concerning (1) the grants awarded pursuant to this section, (2) the status and progress made toward a state-wide goal of attaining universal access to (A) broadband Internet download speeds of one gigabit per second; and (B) broadband Internet upload speeds of one hundred megabits per second, and (3) broadband Internet access service adoption rates, the price and nonprice barriers to broadband adoption and digital equity. Such report shall include recommendations to overcome any such barriers, including, but not limited to, addressing issues of digital literacy and affordability.