Published May 13, 2021 Catherine Morehouse, Utility Dive
The following is a contributed article by Jeremy Fisher, Senior Advisor for Strategic Research and Development, Environmental Law Program, The Sierra Club
Rural electric cooperatives hold a unique place in the U.S. electric sector. Authorized under the Rural Electrification Act (REA) of 1936, the formation of non-profit electric cooperatives is a lasting legacy of the last New Deal. Unfortunately, federal support of these cooperatives has not kept up with the times, and today rural utilities hold a disproportionate amount of uneconomic coal in the United States.
With that in mind, we ve put a proposal on the table to use federal dollars to ease the transition from fossil fuels to clean energy at cooperatives and coal communities by injecting $12.5 billion of clean energy dollars into rural economies, with an additional $2.5 billion for plant and coal mine communitie
May 8, 2021
Mike Smith (KFS) echoes my current thoughts. Social media in general, and Facebook for sure, was bad enough during the elections, when lies and complaints about politics dominated things.
Now that that’s over, what comes to the surface is people bitching and moaning and complaining and kvetching about trivia.
Conversational phrases they don’t like.
Foods they don’t like.
Militant atheists complain about religious zealots, and religious zealots complain about nonbelievers.
And people who I sure hope never, ever pump their own gas or bank at ATMs are on the warpath against grocery store self-checkout lanes because automation costs jobs.
Making connections: Plan to spend $100 billion future-proofing internet ambitious, but short on specifics
Journal-Courier staff, dbauer@myjournalcourier.com
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Even though the federal government has spent tens of billions of dollars to close the digital divide, tens of millions of Americans still aren’t online. The Biden administration has now broached a big number, $100 billion, in an effort to get all Americans connected. Show MoreShow Less
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America’s rural-internet policy has been an ongoing mistake, said Gigi Sohn, an official in the Obama-era FCC. “A lot of what we have is very slow,” she said. The White House now says it wants “future-proof” networks “in unserved and under-served areas,” so they don’t have to be rebuilt again years later because they’re out-of-date. Show MoreShow Less
Associated Press
Maine Gov. Janet Mills is backing a bipartisan bill that would expand broadband access in a state plagued by slow or nonexistent service.
The proposal would overhaul an obscure state agency created nearly 15 years ago and create a new one with the power to own and invest in rural broadband infrastructure projects that private providers have sworn off as unprofitable. The new agency would also be charged with making sure broadband access is affordable.
Expanding broadband access in Maine has frequently ended in a legislative stalemate over funding.
When voters last year approved a $15 million bond for broadband, it was the first public investment in more than a decade. But it was also far short of the $600 million the ConnectMaine Authority estimates it will cost to bring high-speed access to at least 95 percent of the state.
April 25, 2021
For decades, the member owners of Escambia River Electric Cooperative have attended the utility’s annual meeting.
There’s also been the business end of the meeting the election of trustees and voting on cooperative business. But the membership meetings have also been a chance for community members from Escambia and Santa Rosa counties to come together with food and entertainment.
But in 2019, the membership meeting was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and the 2021 annual meeting was held virtually Saturday via streaming video.
In 1937, the first meeting was held to organize Escambia River Electric Cooperative, Inc. at the Oak Grove Community House. By lamplight, several prominent community leaders laid out the blueprints for the formation and operation of EREC.