MiEnergy Cooperative secures $3.16 million grant for fiber project

One of 26 projects awarded grants by DEED’s border-to-border program

Cresco, IA | Rushford, MN (7 a.m. Nov. 4, 2024)— The Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED) announced MiEnergy Cooperative as a recipient of its Border-to-Border Broadband Development Grant Program. 

The $3.16 million grant is for MiEnergy’s Southwest Fremont project in Fillmore and Winona counties, which will bring fiber-to-the-home technology to 396 locations. 

The grant program is a partnership between the State of Minnesota, MiEnergy and Mabel Cooperative Telephone Company.

MiEnergy will use the $3.16 million grant and $4.7 million local match to service 342 unserved and 54 underserved locations in a rural area southwest of Fremont. It will improve speeds to 1 Gbps download and 1 Gbps upload on a fiber network, exceeding the state’s speed goals.

“This grant is two-fold. It brings the fastest available broadband speeds to an area where members currently have no access. It also allows us to connect our substations to fiber which means improved reliability and efficiency when delivering electricity to our members,” said Jill Huffman, MiEnergy’s broadband COO.

MiEnergy is no stranger to working with other entities to provide solutions to meet the needs of its members when it comes to broadband. It formed MiBroadband with Mabel Cooperative and Spring Grove Communications in 2018 to help bring broadband to rural areas. As part of this border-to-border grant, Mabel Cooperative Telephone Company is contributing $2.37 million as a portion of the local match with MiEnergy.

“As a rural electric cooperative with less than four members per mile of power line, we’ve known the challenges of bringing utilities to rural areas,” stated Brian Krambeer, MiEnergy president/CEO. “Fiber is no different. Grants like these through DEED are what we need to provide this future-proof technology in low-density areas where it otherwise is not economically feasible.”

MiEnergy was one of 26 projects receiving dollars in Round 10 of the state’s program, which awarded $51.9 million in grants.