States look to electric utilities for broadband connections

States are looking toward electric utilities for new broadband initiatives. The New York Power Authority (NYPA) will be working with Sherburne Electric, a NYPA municipal electricity customer, to use NYPA’s existing fiber network for the middle-mile connection as Sherburne designs and builds out fiber networks to its 1,800 homes and businesses. The project is part of Gov Kathy Hochul (D-NY)’s $1 Billion ConnectALL initiative that aims to transform the state's digital infrastructure and deliver affordable broadband to millions of residents and businesses. Under ConnectALL, the state will use over $1 billion in public and private investments to connect New Yorkers in rural and urban areas statewide to broadband. In Arkansas, more than a dozen electric cooperatives have partnered to form a new wholesale broadband provider that will leverage their fiber-optic networks to accelerate statewide broadband deployments. Diamond State Networks aims to provide access to 1.25 million rural Arkansans with a combined network covering more than 64 percent of the state’s land mass and more than 50,000 miles of fiber lines. And in Florida, Tri-County Electric Cooperative will be working with broadband provider Conexon Connect on a $65 million project to deploy a 2,400-mile fiber-to-the-home network within the next few years. Conexon was one of the top bidders in the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund Phase I auction, and it has also partnered with electric co-ops in Georgia, Colorado, Louisiana and New Hampshire to build fiber broadband networks.