The Oconto Electric Cooperative will receive a $12.9 million loan for infrastructure improvements that will be used to build and improve 157 miles of line and connect 614 customers. The loan includes $325,000 in smart grid technologies.
Oconto Electric serves 10,068 consumers over 1,500 miles of line in five counties in northeastern Wisconsin.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Tom Vilsack today announced the Department is investing $2.7 billion to help 64 electric cooperatives and utilities expand and modernize the nation’s rural electric grid and increase grid security.
“These critical investments will benefit rural people and businesses in many ways for decades to come,” Vilsack said. “This funding will help rural cooperatives and utilities invest in changes that make our energy more efficient, more reliable, and more affordable.”
Smart grid can be a catalyst for broadband and other telecommunications services in unserved and underserved rural areas in addition to improving grid security and reliability.
Nearly half of the awards will help finance infrastructure improvements in underserved communities.
