Arrowhead Electric Cooperative, Inc. (AECI) Manager Don Stead dropped a bombshell at the cooperative’s annual meeting on Saturday, June 19. For months, AECI has been working with Pulse Broadband to bring internet, telephone, and television services to Cook County. The two entities jointly applied for a stimulus grant from the Rural Utilities Service (RUS). At the membership meeting, Stead said he had just been notified that the offering from Pulse has changed—Pulse is no longer offering television and internet options.
“If we want to continue, we will have to talk to someone else about those services,” said Stead in an interview after the meeting. Stead said local internet provider, Boreal Access could be the vendor for the internet piece.
Stead said the cooperative had hoped to provide internet service as part of its plan 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. However, to begin using this smart grid technology, fiber optic lines are needed, which is one reason the cooperative intended to work with Pulse. The ability to provide members with internet, telephone, and television service was part of the package.
“So, we need to decide—do we want to continue? If we do, we will have to talk to someone else about television and internet offerings. Pulse could do a contract for telephone. Pulse does provide expertise and help with contracts,” said Stead.
Another entity hoping to bring fiber optic to the North Shore is the Northeast Service Cooperative, which has applied for the same grant. Could the cooperative work with them? Stead said no. “One of us is hopefully going to ‘win’ this grant and bring this service to the county.”
” Asked why Pulse withdrew those offerings, Stead said he suspects it is because not enough co-ops across the United States wanted Pulse’s services. “I believe they did not have the subscriber base they wanted.”
“We are now in a bit of a quandary,” said Stead. “We’ll be discussing this Thursday.”
Stead said the cooperative does not have to take any action at this point. “We don’t have to do anything until RUS gets back to us. We have time to figure out what we are going to do now that Pulse has changed the game on us.”
The AECI board met at its Lutsen headquarters building on Thursday, June 24, 2010 after this issue went to press.
See more about Arrowhead Electric’s annual meeting on page A4
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