A program that has been saving thousands of Franklin and Essex County residents a collective $4 million on their internet bills for the past two years is winding down tomorrow as money from the federal government runs out.

The Affordable Connectivity Program was introduced by the Federal Communications Commission in 2022 with a $14 billion budget. It gave people with low household incomes a discount of up to a $30 off their monthly internet bill.

The ACP was created to extend the $3.2 billion Emergency Broadband Benefit Program, which was created to ensure internet access during the coronavirus pandemic, when much of work, school, health care shifted online. With the pandemic emergency over, the federal funding is ending, too.

“But the need for affordable connectivity continues on,” said Franklin County Legislator Lindy Ellis, D-Saranac Lake.

According to Universal Service Administration Company, there are 4,896 ACO subscribers in Franklin County and 2,580 ACP subscribers in Essex County.

Throughout the ACP program, the USAC reports that $2,969,502 of aid was claimed in Franklin County and $1,278,112 of aid was claimed in Essex County.

Spectrum, the main internet provider for the Tri-Lakes, costs $50 a month for a base rate.

Ellis said the program was “very heavily used” in Franklin County. She said the county promoted it heavily through postings, case workers mailers. She’s a member of the North Country Broadband Alliance, a work group which meets every other week, and is involved in sourcing grants for broadband infrastructure buildout to get the service to more rural areas in the region.

In February, Ellis led the legislature in asking the federal government to continue the ACP. She said this has been a “vital” program.

An FCC survey of 5,317 users of the program showed that 77% of respondents said losing ACP would make them change their service plan or potentially lose internet. Almost half said they had no internet service or just mobile internet before getting ACP.

A senator from Vermont, Peter Welch, introduced a bill to extend ACP with $7 billion earlier this month, but it has yet to get out of committees.

Earlier this month, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-NY, said he would work to get ACP funding extended. A spokesperson for his office said they needed to get “Republican support” to keep the program alive, but did not elaborate on what was holding up the passage of the extension.

In February, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-NY, gave her support to the Affordable Connectivity Program Extension Act, saying “Fast, reliable internet is no longer a luxury — it is a necessity for everyday life.”

Saranac Lake Central School District Superintendent Diane Fox said the district used coronavirus pandemic-era funding to support internet access for 11 families, 18 students. But this money is also running out this year. Fox said the district recently was awarded a $10,000 grant from the Adirondack Foundation for internet connectivity, which will support around 10 families in the coming year.

“Life requires connectivity these days,” Fox said. “And it’s not inexpensive.”

ACP lasted as long as it did because it was underutilized. Only approximately 43% of eligible households in the U.S. signed for the ACP subsidy when applications closed in February.

In total, an estimated 60 million Americans benefited from ACP. Members of it may receive partial discounts in May, but then no more after that. More details of the ACP wind down can be found at tinyurl.com/4258p54a

ACP users should have already received three notices of ACP ending from their internet provider, detailing the impact on their bill.

People who already got financial assistance from the government — like Medicaid, food stamps, WIC, SNAP, EBT, federal public housing assistance, free and reduced school lunches, the Veterans Pension and Pell Grant awardees — were automatically approved for the ACP. People also qualified if their household income is 200% or less than the Federal Poverty Guidelines. For an individual, that would be someone who makes less than $29,160. For a family of four, that would be the household making less than a collective $60,000.

People living on tribal lands could be eligible for up to $75 a month, and anyone qualified for ACP could also get up to a $100 discount on laptops, desktops and tablets if they contributed between $10 and $50 toward the purchase.

The ACP also made it easier for internet providers to build infrastructure in low-income communities, because the federal aid provided for a more reliable customer base and lowered the amount of grant money they needed to build, the Associated Press reported.

President Joe Biden has said the ACP is like the the Rural Electrification Administration, which expanded electric supply into rural America in the 1930s.

Ellis said if people care about this issue they should tell their federal representatives to fund it again.