RUS and the IEEE Advance Smart Grid Projects
Posted by Jesse Ward on Friday, March 16, 2012 · 
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The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Rural Utilities Service (RUS) announced last week that rural electric cooperative utilities in eight states will receive funding to install smart grid technologies and make improvements to generation and transmission facilities. Under Secretary for Rural Development Dallas Tonsager made the announcement at the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA) Annual Meeting in San Diego.
The $201 million in loans will assist electric utilities to upgrade, expand, maintain and replace rural America’s electric infrastructure. This announcement includes support for about $25 million in smart grid technologies. RUS is now more than halfway toward reaching Secretary Tom Vilsack’s goal to fund more than $250 million for smart grid technologies.
Utilities in Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, South Dakota and Tennessee will receive this funding. Read more
RUS Awards $410 Million in New Broadband Loans
Posted by Jesse Ward on Thursday, November 17, 2011 · ·
On Monday, the USDA announced funding for telephone utilities to build, expand and improve broadband in their rural service territories. As part of the traditional Telecommunications Infrastructure Loan Program, RUS awarded $410.7 million to 24 companies across 15 states for mainly fiber-to-the-premises (FTTP) and fiber-the-the-home (FTTH) projects.
The announcement was made by USDA Rural Utilities Service Deputy Administrator Jessica Zufolo during an address at the annual meeting of the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners in St. Louis, MO.
“Today’s funding will provide residents of these rural communities with high speed internet connections to improve healthcare and educational opportunities and connect to global markets,” Secretary Vilsack said in a press release. “In addition to providing much needed services to rural businesses and residents, these investments will increase jobs, not just in the near term, but through expanded opportunities in rural areas.”
The largest award was provided to NTCA member and North Dakota telco Polar Communications Mutual Aid Corp. The telco will use the funds to expand its FTTP broadband system throughout 18 exchanges. Upon completion of this RUS-funded project, all of Polar’s subscribers will be served with broadband via various technologies. Read more
Committee Launches Investigation into RUS Loan to Open Range
Posted by Jesse Ward on Monday, November 14, 2011 · ·
On October 9, the House Energy and Commerce Committee launched an investigation into the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s $267 million loan to Open Range Communications, which filed for bankruptcy protection in early October.
Six bipartisan members of the committee sent a letter to Rural Utilities Service Administrator Jonathan Adelstein requesting the firm’s complete loan application and any documents related to the decision to approve it. The current balance of Open Range’s loan — the largest made to rural broadband providers between 2002 and 2008 — is $73.5 million.
The letter also notes refers to concerns from the Agriculture Department’s inspector general about the oversight of broadband loan programs in light of the fact that $340 million had been paid out despite “incomplete applications, loans that defaulted, and grant funds used for inappropriate purposes.” Read more
USDA Awards $103 Million for Broadband Projects
Posted by Jesse Ward on Monday, August 22, 2011 · (1) ·
The USDA Rural Utilities Service (RUS) announced today that 18 recipients will receive more than $103 million in funding for 23 projects to provide broadband services to unserved and underserved rural communities. The projects fall under two USDA programs: the Telecommunications Infrastructure Loan Program and the Rural Development Community Connect Program.
Of the $103 million, approximately $90 million in loan funding is set aside for five broadband infrastructure projects. Read more
RUS Awards $192M in Broadband Loans
Posted by Jesse Ward on Thursday, July 28, 2011 · ·
The USDA Rural Development’s Rural Utilities Service (RUS) announced yesterday that it has awarded $192 million in loans for projects that will deliver broadband services to rural customers across eight states.
This financing is part of the $690 million investment USDA will make during FY 2011 in the Telecommunications Infrastructure Loan Program, which funds facilities and equipment to upgrade, expand, maintain and replace rural telecommunications networks. This is in addition to the $3.5 billion in broadband funding RUS awarded for projects under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. Read more
RUS to Discontinue Telecom Program’s List of Materials
Posted by Jesse Ward on Monday, May 23, 2011 · ·
–updated May 24, 2011, at 10:50 a.m. with new information –
NTCA spoke with RUS officials May 23, Monday afternoon, and learned that agency will be discontinuing the telecom program’s “approved” list of materials (LoM). RUS said that it does not have the staff resources to continue this project. The official announcement was posted May 24 to the RUS website.
In the past, broadband service providers that received RUS grants or low-interest loans to construct, upgrade or maintain their networks were only allowed to install new products which were on the approved LoM. (The one exception to this rule was applicants to the BIP program.)
RUS Administrator Jonathan Adelstein made the official announcement in an open letter: “Effective immediately, Rural Development will no longer accept applications for equipment to be added to the List of Materials for Telecommunications and Rural Development will cease publication of the List of Materials for Telecommunications.” Read more
RUS Loans $40 Million for FTTP Projects
Posted by Jesse Ward on Thursday, April 21, 2011 · ·
Yesterday, the USDA Rural Utilities Service (RUS) announced support for telecommunications projects in seven states to improve broadband service to rural residents and businesses.
RUS will loan $40 million for projects in Georgia, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, North Dakota, Montana and Oklahoma. The telephone companies and cooperatives that have been selected to receive the financing will construct more than 1,000 miles of fiber-to-the-premises (FTTP) systems. Read more