Pine County News reports…
Along with staff from East Central Energy (ECE), officials from the Minnesota Legislature and the Minnesota Office of Broadband Development met in Pine City for a site visit on July 17 to observe speed testing and review progress tied to state-funded broadband grants as part of the ongoing ECE Fiber broadband expansion project.
The visit marked a significant milestone in the cooperative’s broadband buildout, as it completed a crucial step for the December 2022 awards given through the Minnesota Border-to-Border Broadband Grant Program, administered by the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development. The grants totaled nearly $15M and enabled three large-scale broadband projects in Isanti, Kanabec, and Pine counties. Designed to bring reliable high-speed fiber internet to 7,584 serviceable points, the project includes some of the hardest-to-reach areas in east central Minnesota.
State support and oversight
Senator Aric Putman, Chair of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Broadband, and Rural Development, and Representative Nathan Nelson (District 11B) joined the site visit to better understand the progress of rural broadband deployment by electric cooperatives. Also present were Bree Maki and Mike Wimmer from the Minnesota Office of Broadband Development, whose leadership has been vital to ECE’s broadband success and advocacy. The group observed performance testing and mapping verifications by Connected Nation, the state’s contracted assessor, to ensure compliance with network speed and coverage requirements.
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The ECE Fiber network now spans over 2,200 miles of fiber, with more than 5,000 members already connected and additional installations in progress. So far, approximately 300 businesses have been connected. Since launching the initiative, ECE has created 45 new jobs, including technicians, designers, and support staff. This continues to strengthen the local economy while building long-term technical capacity within the region.
To leverage existing electric infrastructure, ECE designed its fiber network to follow its electric lines (approximately 60% overhead and 40% underground). Because the cooperative uses non-conductive fiber lines, installation can run closer to neutral wires, minimizing the need for new poles or underground components and further lowering construction expenses.