Rank: 67
Code: Red
(See Blandin Foundation interactive map)

Mille Lacs County: ECE gets $10 million in 2024 grants

Mille Lacs County ranks 67 (down one place) for broadband access out of 87 counties. Progress in Mille Lacs has been slow and incremental.

Mille Lacs is engaging with multiple broadband providers and East Central Energy was awarded three grants in 2024 (totally more than $10 million). I suspect the results of those projects will bump Mille Lacs into yellow or green ranking but for now they retain their red ranking.

• Over the years, Mille Lacs County (or cities within) has invested $242,200 (total) for matches for 2 successful MN Broadband grants. This is an indicator of local government that is engaged and (literally) invested in better, local broadband.
• Mille Lacs County will benefit from three 2024 MN Broadband grants:
  $3.6 Million award that will serve 803 locations,
  $3.2 million award that will serve 659 locations and
  $4.9 million award that will serve 1479 locations.
• Mille Lacs County will not benefit from any line extension awards.
• Last years’ estimates indicated that it would cost $34 million to get ubiquitous broadband in the county. (I haven’t updated the number because recent report offers scenarios of costs based on BEAD funding rules that make current estimates less predictable than in the past. Yet, I think the number is still helpful.)
• In 2022, Mille Lacs ranked 81 using Microsoft’s Digital Equity Tool, which looks at various factors of a community.
• Mille Lacs County was part of the Blandin Broadband Communities (BBC) initiative from 2012-2014.
• In November (2022), the Mille Lacs County Board of Commissioners met to hear about broadband options.

2024 Grants

• County: Mille Lacs
  East Central Energy Mille Lacs North
  Grant: $3,604,567
  Local Match: $5,637,915
  Total Budget: $9,242,482
  The East Central Energy (ECE) Mille Lacs North project will expand on ECE’s electric and broadband operations in East Central Minnesota and Northwestern Wisconsin. This project will offer 100/100 Mbps, 250/250 Mbps, and 1 Gbps/1 Gbps service options to a total of 803 locations, 677 unserved and 126 underserved, consisting of 680 households, 101 businesses, and 22 farms. Funding partner are Mille Lacs County with a contribution of $15,800 and Page Township with a contribution of $8,000.
• County: Isanti, Kanabec, Mille Lacs
  East Central Energy Mille Lacs Central
  Grant: $3,267,902
  Local Match: $5,111,333
  Total Budget: $8,379,235
  The East Central Energy Mille Lacs Central project will expand on ECE’s electric and broadband operations in East Central Minnesota and Northwestern Wisconsin, bringing state-of-the-art Fiber to the Premise (FTTP) technology to residents of Mille Lacs, Kanabec, and Isanti Counties. This project will serve a total of 659 locations, including 509 unserved and 150 underserved locations. Funding partners are; Isanti County $10,000, Kanabec County $900, Mille Lacs County $4,200, and South Fork Township $800, for a total partner contribution of $15,900.
• County: Isanti, Mille Lacs
  East Central Energy
  ECE Mille Lacs South
  Grant: $4,885,809
  Local Match: $8,319,081
  Total Budget: $13,204,890
  East Central Energy will connect 1,479 unserved and underserved passings with fiber-to-the premises internet service in the proposed Mille Lacs South project area, which encompasses parts of southern Mille Lacs County and western Isanti County. The total passings include 950 households, 89 businesses, and 440 farms. ECE will utilize its current electric pole line and substation infrastructure to connect the 1,479 passings with 100/100 Mbps or greater internet speeds. The Project will expand on ECE’s electric and broadband operations in east central Minnesota and northwestern Wisconsin. ECE currently provides electric service to more than 66,000 homes, farms, and businesses. Mille Lacs County is pledging $100,000 and Isanti County is pledging $6,000 toward the project.

Past Grants:

• 2022: Savage Communications Inc. (SCI) – Northern Mille Lacs County 2022: Broadband Expansion – GRANT $476,108
• Benton Cooperative Telephone Company – Borgholm Township Project – GRANT $1,118,289 (Learn more)

• 2016 – BENTON COOPERATIVE TELEPHONE COMPANY BOCK – GRANT: $510,000
• 2019: Benton Cooperative Telephone Company – Ramey Phase I – GRANT $936,759

• MN State Grants awarded in 2021: Savage Communications Inc. (SCI) – Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe (Onamia) Broadband Expansion – GRANT $70,261 This last mile fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) project will serve 102 unserved households within the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe Reservation in Mille Lacs County.

• Benton Cooperative Telephone Company – Ramey Phase 2 Project – GRANT $338,011 This last mile project will serve 119 unserved locations in the Ramey telephone exchange located in portions of Lakin and Mount Morris townships in Morrison County and a small portion of Dailey and Page townships located in Mille Lacs County.

Find more articles on broadband in Mille Lacs County (http://tinyurl.com/h7wcdjj)

The maps below on the left comes from the Office of Broadband Development interactive map, reflecting data updated on December 16, 2024. Red dots represent locations unserved locations. Above I have tracked wireline access because that is the Minnesota definition of broadband. The info below includes wired and wireless. BEAD includes fixed wireless connections as served locations. (I wrote more on the distinction between the two last year, which may be if interest in the numbers range greatly for your county.)

I am doing the annual look at broadband in each county – based on maps from the Office of Broadband Development and news gathered from the last year. I’m looking at progress toward the 2022 (25 Mbps down and 3 Mbps up) and 2026 (100 Mbps down and 20 Mbps up) and will code each:

• Red (yikes)
• Yellow (warning)
• Green (good shape)