In North-Central Ohio, Community Leaders Ask Voters to Approve Expansion of Municipal Fiber Network

Date: 8 May 2018 | posted in: MuniNetworks | 0 Facebooktwitterredditmail

Hudson is like many other small cities, in that large national providers don’t see a justification for investing in fiber in non-urban residential areas. With a population of around 24,000, the community needs to remain competitive. Hudson began with fiber optic infrastructure to municipal facilities, which they built out incrementally over a period of about ten years. By 2015, they had started offering gigabit service to businesses, which have embraced the faster, more reliable service. By the fall of 2016, they were ready to issue an RFP for a feasibility study to examine a citywide Fiber-to-the-Home (FTTH) network.… Read More

Voters Approve Municipal Broadband in Small Iowa Town

Date: 3 May 2018 | posted in: MuniNetworks | 0 Facebooktwitterredditmail

Looking at the Community Network Map, anyone can see that Iowa is filled with towns that have chosen to invest in publicly owned Internet infrastructure. On May 1st, the community of Pella took a step at the polls that will bring them a little closer to having a “pin” on our map. Ninety-two percent of those voting in the special election chose to authorize the City Council to establish a telecommunications utility.

Located in south central Iowa, Pella is about 40 miles south of Des Moines in Marion County. Pella Corporation and the Vermeer Manufacturing Company are the largest employers with Century College and the Pella Regional Health Center also retaining many people in the community. All of these large entities need fiber connectivity for different purposes.… Read More

Voters Quiet the Drums At the Polls in Colorado

Date: 3 Nov 2015 | posted in: MuniNetworks | 0 Facebooktwitterredditmail

The “constant drumbeat” of complaints about poor connectivity pounding from Colorado communities ended with a climactic crash at the polls on Tuesday. Referenda in 43 communities – 26 cities and towns; 17 counties – all passed overwhelmingly to reclaim local telecommunications authority. Staggering Approval The landslide victory was no surprise. Last year, nine communities asked voters … Read More

Susan Osborne and Boulder’s Clean Energy Takeover – Episode 5 of Local Energy Rules Podcast

Date: 22 Mar 2013 | posted in: Energy, Energy Self Reliant States, Podcast | 1 Facebooktwitterredditmail

In this episode of Local Energy Rules, John Farrell and Wade Underwood talk with Susan Osborne, the former Mayor of Boulder, CO, about that city’s effort to take control of its energy future. … Read More

Watch: How a City Can Get More Clean, Local Energy

Date: 19 Feb 2013 | posted in: Energy, Energy Self Reliant States | 0 Facebooktwitterredditmail

Like many cities attempting to solve climate change at a local level, Minneapolis is finding the prospect more challenging that it may have imagined. The lion’s share of emissions (two-thirds in the case of Minneapolis) come from electricity and gas sold by two monopoly, corporate utilities. Minnesota’s state-level policy is helping: a renewable energy standard pushes … Read More