Blandin on Broadband

News and information on broadband use, policy, and trends

Blandin on Broadband

Office of Broadband Development Update Sep 23 2026: BEAD, Line Extension, Task Force notes and Digital Skill Resource

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From the Office of Broadband Development…

Broadband Matters: Office of Broadband Development Updates

  • OBD, in the field!
  • Broadband Task Force, September meeting recap
  • 25 Hours. One Connected World: A live global digital skills marathon expanding opportunity for all
  • Broadband, Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) updates
  • Line Extension Connection Program, registration open for residents and businesses

OBD, in the field!

OBD staff have been busy continuing to perform site visits across the state for the Border to Border Broadband Grant Program and the Line Extension Connection Program to ensure infrastructure grant compliance and connect with grantees.

Since June, the team has gone on site visits for grantee projects with providers from Arvig, MiEnergy Cooperative, Paul Bunyan Communications, Woodstock Telephone Company, Meeker Coop Light and Power Association, Lismore Cooperative Telephone Co., Runestone Telecom Association, East Central Energy (ECE), Midco, Benton Cooperative Telephone Company, and Albany Mutual Telephone Association.

Additionally! Stream OBD’s Executive Director Bree Maki’s podcast episode with Connected Nation, which explores Minnesota’s broadband journey, the challenges of connecting communities across the state’s diverse landscape, and the lessons for other states as they enter the next phase of broadband deployment. Available online here: https://bit.ly/4h7F1I7.

Governor’s Broadband Task Force, September meeting recap

The Governor’s Broadband Task Force met last week, Wednesday September 16 and heard presentations from Amy Baldwin (Community Development Director, CDA & HRA Executive Director, Otter Tail County) and John Horrigan ( Senior Fellow, Benton Institute for Broadband & Society), as well as updates from OBD’s Bree Maki (Executive Director). The Task Force subgroups also met to discuss work on the upcoming annual report.

Information on upcoming meetings in 2026, well as past meetings, can be found on the Broadband Task Force webpage.

25 Hours. One Connected World: A live global digital skills marathon expanding opportunity for all

Connected Nation, longtime vendor and partner of OBD, is partnering with over 25 global organizations in a first-ever attempt to set a GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS™ title for the “longest internet literacy live stream,” aimed at expanding digital skills access worldwide.

This event, “25 Hours. One Connected World,” will run September 24-25, featuring 25 consecutive hours of live, expert-led digital skills training accessible globally as it follows the sun across six continents, starting in the United States, via live stream at bit.ly/CNWorldRecord beginning at 8 a.m. CT.

Broadband, Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) updates

OBD is continuing to work through required project scope changes and preparing contracts for execution. Updated information and resources can be found on the OBD BEAD webpage including:

On September 3, 2026, the NTIA announced a new BEAD Supplemental Deployment Policy Notice that introduces an updated process for BEAD implementation. OBD continues to wait for NTIA to release additional information, including details on timelines, and states will provide further updates and resources as available to keep partners and providers informed. Currently, the estimated timeline (subject to change from NTIA) is:
PIC

Providers and community members can contact OBD at DEED.broadband@state.mn.us with questions on BEAD.

Line Extension Connection Program, registration open for residents and businesses

Registration remains open for residents and businesses for future rounds of the Line Extension Connection Program.

For assistance completing the application, or to request a paper form to complete, please call 651-259-7610 or email DEED.broadband@state.mn.us.

More information and registration are available on the Line Extension Connection Program webpage.

PowerOn Midwest plans to build multi-billion dollar power infrastructure in SD and MN (Murray County)

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KELO reports...

It’s an energy project that planners say is big enough, but a skeptic said it is too big.

The PowerOn Midwest is a multi-billion-dollar project that will build a 765 kV transmission line that will connect eastern South Dakota, southern Minnesota, and the larger Upper Midwest. The grid needs to move 10,000 megawatts of capacity for the coming decades, said Kevin Coss of Xcel Energy. One megawatt is enough to power about 800 average homes in the Upper Midwest, he said in an email response to KELOLAND News questions.

It’s the first 765kV line project in the Upper Midwest, PowerOn participants said. The 345kV transmission line is more common in the Upper Midwest, according to multiple industrial websites. American Electric Power “operates more than 2,200 miles of 765 kV transmission lines across six states, supported by over 8,000 structures that span diverse terrain,” according to its website. States include Ohio and Indiana.

The project cost in South Dakota is estimated between $1.3 and $1.7 billion, Coss said. PowerOn Minnesota costs are estimated between $3.4 and $4.3 billion dollars, he said.

It will traverse parts of Minnesota…

The project’s path takes it from near Milbank, South Dakota, down to Brookings and across southwestern Minnesota, including Murray County. The South Dakota route will be about 90 miles from the Big Stone South Substation in Grant County to the Brookings substation near White, Coss said. The Minnesota portion is about 160 miles.

The article outlines the history, including controversies of the project.

Harmony Township considering a two-year moratorium for data center: more meetings planned (Fillmore County)

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InForum reports…

Harmony Township may enact a two-year moratorium that would halt Geronimo Power’s efforts to build a data center in the area.

Approximately 50 people gathered Tuesday morning, Sept. 22, at the Mapleton Community Center, including township leaders and residents. Other interested parties in attendance included representatives from Geronimo Power, a Minnesota-based energy company that is building a solar facility in the township and recently shared plans for more developments, including battery storage and a data center.

A common sentiment among the people who spoke up during the meeting’s public comment period was: “It’s moving too fast.”

Dustin Burchill — appointed to take Jim Nelson’s place as board chair after he stepped down — said residents filed a petition asking to be heard on why they feel a moratorium is appropriate.

Residents at Tuesday’s meeting shared concerns about tonal noise, decreased property values, water usage, road traffic, ability to farm organically, lack of study into wildlife impacts and lack of research as a whole on the impacts of data centers.

The topic got some traction…

Burchill made a motion, which passed unanimously, to hold a public hearing that would serve as a formal opportunity for people to comment on whether they think a moratorium is appropriate.

The language he used in his motion — which may not be the final language used — was for a two-year zoning moratorium for all industrial-scale development including solar, wind, data centers, battery storage systems, electric transmission lines and gas-fired electrical generation facilities “in order to update its zoning ordinances to further protect the township and its residents.”

The process will include special meetings as well as a recommendation by the zoning board, township supervisors told The Forum after the meeting adjourned.

The township’s next regular meeting is scheduled for 7 p.m. Oct. 20. The date of the special meeting has not been determined.

Doug Dawson has practical ways to create better broadband maps

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Doug Dawson is a smart guy. He finds ways to make seemingly insurmountable jobs relatively easy. He recently wrote about the problem with broadband mapping…

I’m all for changes that would create an accurate broadband map. But I’m fairly certain that the FCC is not going to consider making the changes that would actually improve the maps. The biggest problem with the current maps is that speeds claimed by ISPs are sometimes far different than what is being delivered. Fixing that would require the FCC to actually look at what’s in the maps and challenge ISPs that exaggerate speeds. I can’t imagine the agency adopting new rules that would saddle itself with that responsibility.

He came up with a tech-centric solution…

There is an existing tool that could be used  to compare claimed speeds to actual speeds. Ookla records millions of speed tests across the country for all ISPs. The FCC could buy the Ookla speed test records to compare against ISP claims. With AI and other new analytic tools, it wouldn’t be hard to compare Ookla speeds to FCC claimed speeds.

If speed tests were considered, ISPs would instantly yell that speed tests aren’t accurate enough to use to judge them. In many ways, they would be right. People often take speed tests when their broadband isn’t performing right. There are lots of homes where speeds are slower due to WiFi issues. A computer sitting close to the WiFi router will show faster speeds than a computer at the other end of a home. Many customers subscribe to lower speed tiers, which, by definition, don’t show the capability of the ISP.

But when large numbers of speed tests are used correctly, they are a valuable tool for understanding an ISP’s real performance. I’ve been lucky enough to work with counties that have purchased the full Ookla speed data set. Those tests provided them with enough data to do meaningful comparisons.

And gives at least one reason self-reporting can be tricky…

Speed tests show all sorts of other interesting facts about ISP coverage. I’ve written several times in the past about how the speed for FWA cellular wireless quickly diminishes with distance from the tower. An FWA carrier might be delivering 300 Mbps to a customer within a short distance of a tower, but after a mile, speed drops to 100 Mbps. By two miles speed drops to 50-75 Mbps, and at three miles drop to the range of 25 Mbps. Most FWA speed claims in the FCC map will show 100 Mbps across the entire area around a tower, and much of that speed claim is overstated.

State broadband offices (and some industry groups) are exhausted with BEAD

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Fierce Network reports...

According to interviews and research from the Benton Institute for Broadband and Society, state broadband officers (SBOs) are exhausted by the challenges and shifting dynamics of implementing the $42.5 billion Broadband Equity Access and Deployment (BEAD) program.

Leaders from the Benton Institute have interviewed over 30 SBOs, so far, about what it is taking to implement BEAD. And Dr. Ravati Prasad of the Benton Institute talked about the takeaways from those conversations in a recent Fiber Broadband Association (FBA) webinar.

“The people who are in charge of overseeing this work are feeling exhausted,” said Prasad. “It’s been a long haul, and more than one person said to us, ‘Just want to get it done.’ Their legislatures aren’t exactly hostile to broadband; their governors aren’t hostile to broadband. They’re just not particularly interested in talking about it anymore.”

The Minnesota Broadband Task Force has monthly meetings, where Bree Maki from the Office of Broadband Development gives an update. (See notes and video from September’s meeting.) She shares her experience working with limited and changing information from the funder and trying to manage expectations with the providers.

The providers are also feeling the pinch, as demonstrated by an industry group asking for changes to BEAD…

NRECA is urging the Trump administration to overhaul implementation of the $42.5 billion Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment program to ensure BEAD meets its statutory goal to connect every American home and business with reliable, high-speed internet.

The National Telecommunications and Information Administration announced a new round of available BEAD funding on Sept. 3 that NRECA CEO Jim Matheson said continues the program’s “misguided” approach that could leave rural communities behind.

Google talks to Hermantown about data center improvements at public meeting (St Louis County)

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Nnorthern News Now reports…

Google representatives shared updates on its proposed data center in Hermantown Monday night including changes after the public raised environmental concerns.

A company spokesperson said they’ve acted on the public’s main concerns, hoping to reduce the impact on well water, trout streams, and wetlands.

“I want to again thank the public for their continued comments at past council meetings, at past open houses, at neighbor meetings, etc,” said Google Representative Liz Schwab. “It has certainly helped us to shape and improve the project.

Google says those actions include monitoring wells and reducing the impacts to wetlands by 37 percent.

The company is also creating a decommissioning agreement if the site becomes obsolete in the future.

As a part of their philanthropy efforts, Google will also be donating $2.5 million to local grants and nonprofits.

Some residents at the meeting say they shouldn’t have had to beg for Google to take action.

It sounds as if things have been getting heated in Hermantown. The meeting included a reminder of public decorum at meetings as well as mention of a preliminary report of its internal investigation, which was initiated after disparaging remarks of data center opponents were leaked and posted by the Duluth Monitor.

Fox21 reports…

The Duluth News Tribune and WDIO also covered the story.

Comcast’s Xfinity deploys broadband to 13,000 new locations in Chanhassen and Nowthen (Anoka and Carver Counites)

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Comcast announces…

Comcast’s Xfinity announced today that nearly 13,000 new homes and businesses in Chanhassen and Nowthen, Minnesota now have access to high-speed Internet from America’s smartest and most reliable, converged network. Xfinity brings Internet, mobile, entertainment, and smart home services together in one simple, seamless solution. Chanhassen and Nowthen join more than 65 million homes and businesses nationwide with access to a fiber-powered network that fuels innovation, productivity, and everyday connection.

Residents can sign up for Xfinity services by visiting Xfinity.com and businesses can visit ComcastBusiness.com to see if their address is eligible for service. Nowthen residents can visit the Xfinity Store in Coon Rapids, Minnesota, located at 12940 Riverdale Dr. NW, Suite 800, Coon Rapids, MN 55448. Residents of Chanhassen can visit the Xfinity Store at 464 Lake Drive, Chanhassen, MN 55317.

EVENT Sep 30, 2026: Data Center Ordinance Community Input Session in Eagan (Dakota County)

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From Hometown Source...

Eagan residents can share input about potential regulations for data centers at the Data Center Ordinance Community Input Session from 5-7 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 30, at Eagan City Hall, 3830 Pilot Knob Rd.

Before the city ordinance is drafted, the city wants to hear residents’ concerns, questions and potential impacts the City should consider.

There will not be a presentation or Q&A.

The session will offer interactive stations for residents to share concerns, identify questions the City should research, and residents can talk about what should be considered as potential regulations are developed.

If unable to attend, residents can share feedback online, http://polco.us/n/res/vote/eagan-mn/data-center-community-survey.

Learn more at cityofeagan.com/data-center-ordinance.

New Prairie High School host conversation on AI, data centers. policy and more (Hennepin County)

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SouthernMinn.com reports on a recent event in Eden Prairie…

rom job loss to nudification technology, data centers to the end times, a recent southwest metro forum on artificial intelligence underscored the low-boil anxiety of Minnesotans about this unsettling technological change — and myriad policy questions emerging from it.

The recent campaign forum-style event at New Prairie High School in Eden Prairie was moderated by Dr. Krish Subrahmanian, a Hennepin Healthcare pediatrician who is also the   Democratic-Farmer-Labor nominee to succeed state Sen. Steve Cwodzinski in a district covering parts of the southwest Twin Cities metro. He was joined by Attorney General Keith Ellison, as well as representatives from academia, business and labor.

The article goes on to highlights views and comments from presenters and attendees.

Senator Klobuchar working on bipartisan AI safety bill

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KFGO reports...

Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar is working with Republican senators on legislation aimed at reducing potentially catastrophic risks from advanced artificial intelligence.

The proposal under negotiation would require developers of the most powerful AI models to assess and report serious risks and take steps to prevent potential harm.

It could also give the federal government greater authority to test models and intervene if safety concerns aren’t adequately addressed.

The legislation is still being negotiated and has not yet been formally introduced.

EVENT Sep 21: Rice City Council meeting to vote on authorizing a study for data centers (Rice County)

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WJON reports…

The question over the construction of data centers and how to deal with them is hitting another area city. The City of Rice will vote on enacting an interim ordinance and authorizing a study for data centers at Monday night’s city council meeting.

The interim ordinance would prohibit the establishment, construction, or expansion of data centers within the city for one year. The city says the moratorium is to protect the planning process and health, safety, and welfare of the City’s residents.

In addition to the moratorium, the city would authorize the Planning Commission to conduct a study of data centers as a land use and how they have impacted other communities and the regulations those cities have adopted to address them.

The ordinance could expire prior to one year upon amending the zoning ordinance regarding data centers or the adoption of a resolution expressly ending the moratorium by the city council.

Learn more about the Sep 21 city council meeting.

How could federal decisions impact Minnesota data center issues?

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MinneapoliMedia shines a Minnesota lens on federal activity…

A federal proposal intended to protect electricity customers from infrastructure costs created by large data centers is advancing as Minnesota communities debate the energy and water demands of proposed technology developments.

The U.S. House approved the Ratepayer Protection Act by a vote of 417 to 3. The legislation calls on state utility regulators to consider requiring large electricity users, including data centers, to bear the additional infrastructure costs created by their operations.

President Donald Trump said Friday that he was discussing the legislation with Senate Majority Leader John Thune.

The bill’s central principle is that households and existing businesses should not be required to subsidize new power plants, substations, transmission lines and other infrastructure built primarily to serve exceptionally large electricity customers.

The proposal is directly relevant to Minnesota, where communities including Pine Island and Hermantown have confronted questions about data center energy use, water demand, tax incentives and the extent of public participation before projects advance.

Utilities must often make major investments before a large data center begins operating. If a project is delayed, reduced or abandoned after infrastructure is built, other customers can be left carrying some of the resulting costs unless regulators and utility contracts provide adequate protections.

Supporters of stronger ratepayer safeguards argue that data center operators should provide financial guarantees, pay for dedicated infrastructure and accept electricity rates reflecting the actual cost of serving them.

Critics of the House legislation say its language may not be strong enough because it largely directs regulators to consider protective measures instead of imposing a uniform national requirement. An attempt to move the measure quickly through the Senate was blocked by Sen. Martin Heinrich, who argued that the proposal relied too heavily on voluntary action.

North Mankato City leaders discuss proposed data center moratorium prior to City Council meeting on Sep 21 (Nicollet and Blue Earth Counties)

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KEYC show In the Spotlight features local leaders talking about a range of topics...

North Mankato Mayor Scott Carlson and City Administrator Kevin McCann joined Lisa Kaye on In the Spotlight to discuss the city’s upcoming legislative decisions, infrastructure updates, and a full calendar of community events.

Topping municipal business is the finalization of the city budget and property tax levy limits, along with an upcoming public hearing and council vote on a proposed one-year moratorium on data centers larger than 150,000 square feet, allowing leaders time to study environmental and infrastructure impacts. Mayor Carlson also shared updates on the reconstruction of the Spring Lake Park swim facility, highlighting new multi-age play features, expanded deck space, and engineering solutions designed to handle high water tables ahead of its reopening.

Check out the video for the full conversation. Data center talk starts about 3 minutes in for about a minute and they reference the upcoming City Council Regular meeting on September 21, 2026.

Striking doctors at Allina concerned about role of AI in decision making (Coon Rapids – Anoka County)

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The MN Star Tribune reports…

Dr. Ted Longinow was picketing at the Allina Health hospital in Coon Rapids, where he has worked for three decades, because he said physicians need a stronger role in decision-making at Mercy, where he believes the adoption of AI tools could interfere with their judgments about patients’ needs.

“We’re going to be seeing [AI] on the front lines sooner” in hospital care, said Longinow, a hospitalist (or inpatient doctor) at Mercy. “We want to be able to raise concerns about that for our patients and have a voice.”

The dispute over physician involvement in changes including AI use wasn’t the only reason for the strike, which is believed to be the first in U.S. history by staff doctors at a non-governmental hospital. The two sides remain divided on wages and sick pay, among other issues.

But the Mercy doctors said it will remain a priority when the walkout ends at 7 a.m. Friday and they return to bargaining after nearly two years and more than 60 negotiating sessions.

Allina is a big user of AI…

Allina has been an early adopter of artificial intelligence technologies, including a system that takes notes and summarizes them that has been well-received by doctors. The hospital also is using AI tools through a partnership with Ferrum Health to double-check doctors’ reads of imaging scans and cancer diagnoses.

Patient rooms in the expanded Abbott Northwestern Hospital in Minneapolis include video boards capable of disseminating AI-gathered summaries to patients about their conditions and medical care.

AI tools also can help physicians select the best billing codes to maximize revenue from insurers, but that’s a slippery slope toward tools that could weed out high-cost patients, said Dr. John Wust, a staff obstetrician at Mercy’s Coon Rapids campus, who was striking this week.

[Added 30 minutes after original posting – a different video on the same topic from KARE11] 

EVENT Nov 19, 2026: MN Rural Health Policy Summit

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From the Minnesota Rural Health Association’s (MRHA) about their upcoming conference. It’s not strictly broadband or technology but I suspect they will come up…

The Minnesota Rural Health Association’s (MRHA) Rural Health Policy Summit is a one-day event — held on National Rural Health Day, Thursday, 11/19/2026 at the St. Cloud Best Western Kelly Inn, 9:00am – 4:30pm.   

 MRHA Rural Health Policy Summit offers rural health stakeholders an opportunity to learn and collaborate on shared rural health policies and strategies to ensure rural communities are vibrant and healthy across Minnesota.  You are invited to participate in conversations and discussions about industry trends and meaningful policy and strategy development. The 2026 Policy Summit is aiming to sustain rural health through transformative systems change. 

 Our one-day summit offers attendees, those rural-centric healthcare and community leaders from across our state, a dynamic environment to engage in the big question: What are key policies and strategies that can be adopted and/or adapted by rural-centric leaders and stakeholders for transformative systems change?  The format of the Summit includes opportunity for learning, conversations, discussion, and time to talk about what is going on around, and in, the state of Minnesota and to consider policy level and strategic level ideas and solutions that support rural health and vitality.