CENIC Energy Innovations and Middle-Mile Networks

The environmental impacts of broadband networks are not well understood. The infrastructure required to run these networks requires power, which in and of itself, releases carbon and other emissions into the atmosphere. Hence the power consumption of broadband networks matters. Further, with electrical power rates expected to rise significantly due to elevated wildfire risk and renewable energy costs, a balanced, clean, and stable power budget becomes even more critical. Many promising power-thrifty innovations – including smart agriculture, just-in-time energy management, or remote work, education, and healthcare – depend on Internet-based middle-mile networks to function, so these networks themselves must run as efficiently as possible to avoid erasing any gains they enable. Motivated by a desire to scale for the future while using its and its members’ resources as efficiently as possible, CENIC has achieved dramatic improvements in power, equipment, and service provision.