Arrowhead Electric Cooperative Inc. (AECI) learned on September 13, 2010 that it would be the recipient of $16,137,484 in grants and low interest loans from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to help provide fiber optic connections to residential and commercial members of AECI and in the City of Grand Marais.
According to AECI Assistant Manager Jeanne Muntean, the money awarded is an $11,296,239 grant and a $4,841,245 low-interest government loan. This funding is provided by the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) Recovery Act Broadband Infrastructure Program (BIP). “It’s a 70/30 split and the loan will be at an interest rate of 5% or less,” said Muntean. “It will be a longterm loan so it should not significantly affect members. To receive a grant of that amount is a huge benefit to the cooperative.”
Muntean said AECI would proceed with plans to partner with Pulse Broadband to deploy an advanced fiber to the home (FTTH) network. “Pulse helped us through the grant application process and we will continue to work with them. They will assist with the engineering or engineering contracts. There are a lot of details to be worked out. We just learned about the grant on Monday.”
Muntean said many of the cooperative’s questions would be answered at a Rural Utility Service (RUS) Post Award Workshop September 27 – 30. Muntean and Joe Buttweiler of AECI will be attending that workshop to meet their RUS field representative, learn the requirements of the grant and how the construction advances and so forth will work. “We will know more after that workshop,” said Muntean.
Asked how the cooperative would deal with complicated bureaucracy of Recovery Act funding, Muntean said, “We are prepared to work with the federal government. We worked with similar funding situations when we received FEMA money. And, because we are already an RUS borrower [for electrical projects], we have an advantage of knowing what to expect.”
At the electric cooperative’s annual meeting in June, AECI General Manager Don Stead told members that fiber optic Internet service is necessary to initiate “smart grid technology.” This technology would provide the power company with minute-to-minute information on electrical use. And it would allow customers to monitor electrical costs and adjust usage accordingly to conserve energy and save money. “That is just one of the many ways the community will benefit from this fiber optic project,” said Muntean.
In August, the Northeast Service Cooperative received funding to construct 915 miles of “backbone” fiber optic cable to connect more than 85 northeastern communities, including towns along Highway 61 all the way to Grand Portage.
How the Northeast Service Cooperative (NESC) will work with AECI is one of many questions ahead for AECI. Muntean said AECI was pleased when NESC received first round Recovery Act funds. She said AECI would work closely with NESC and Lake County. “We will all be working toward a common goal of bringing fiber optic service to the North Shore,” she said.
Muntean acknowledged that there are a lot of questions to be answered for members and government officials. At press time, the cooperative was working on a list of questions and answers. The Q&A will be posted as soon as possible on the AECI website: www.aecimn.com.
Ideas still sought for broadband projects
As broadband for all of Cook County becomes closer to reality, citizens are reminded that Cook County has been awarded $100,000 from the Blandin Foundation for projects that demonstrate how high-speed fiber optic infrastructure can benefit communities.
Individuals or organizations with ideas on small projects that could use broadband to benefit the Cook County community are invited to respond to a request for proposals, published online at cookcountybroadband.com.
Called the Minnesota Intelligent Rural Communities Project, the program will fund at least four projects in Cook County. The ideas of Cook County community members can be submitted, viewed and even voted on at ccmirc. ideascale.com/.
The application deadline is October 11. Questions regarding this can be directed to Paul Richard Harvey at paul@starbear. org or (218) 370-7994.
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