Bristol Town Administrator Nik Coates is working on a county-wide project that would help the state reach a goal of universal internet coverage. The Grafton County Broadband Committee has applied for $26.2 million in federal funds to cover the construction of “middle-mile fiber,” with internet companies then being able to build out the final mile to reach residents at their homes. However, existing internet providers are challenging the plan through the National Transportation Infrastructure Agency, saying they are already providing service in the region.
A survey of nearly 2,500 Grafton County residents found that connection speeds in each of the county’s 39 communities were slower than the federal definition of broadband, registering under 25 megabits per second download speed and 3 megabits per second upload. “You can’t do remote school, you can’t do remote work, you can’t do telehealth. You can’t do all those things on that level of speed,” Coates said.
He continued, “The whole point of the middle mile is to facilitate end connections. We’re not trying to compete with these guys. We’re trying to drive [broadband] to the towns and make the return on investment make more sense for these companies.”
It’s not only the internet providers who have opposed the broadband effort. Some towns have expressed doubts about ever seeing better broadband coverage. During a discussion of a proposed solar project in Bethlehem, town officials discussed trying to divert some of the county’s American Rescue Plan funds targeted at broadband service to energy-efficiency projects.
One speaker said Grafton County planned to use $250,000 “to help towns and cities connect to a proposed 350-mile fiber internet network. I don’t know about you guys, but I haven't seen any 350-mile fiber internet network yet, so if they could repurpose some of their money to a solar project that actually helps, as opposed to some pie-in-the-sky broadband project, which we can fund out of the new infrastructure bill, that would be wonderful.”
Bethlehem’s solar project is projected to save $10,000 a year in the cost of electricity, or $250,000 over the life of the project. Some residents have opposed the plans because of the proposed location of the solar array, and the town will be taking up funding options at Town Meeting.
Electric costs are a big issue in New England, so experts are looking at ways to make energy more affordable. GE Renewable Energy has begun operating a prototype of a 14-megawatt offshore wind turbine, nearly three times the height of the Statue of Liberty and its base, in the waters off Rotterdam in the Netherlands.
Siemens Gamesa and Vestas, two other leading turbine manufacturers, are developing 15-megawatt models. The growth will continue, with companies and analysts saying that a 20-megawatt turbine is within reach.
The race to build bigger turbines has a practical purpose. As turbines get taller and increase their generating capacity, they become more efficient and their electricity becomes cheaper for consumers.
Yet offshore wind has its own problems. New Hampshire’s Committee To Study Offshore Wind has invited environmentalists and fishermen who are worried about the potential impact on marine life to be part of their analysis of offshore wind, in particular a proposal for a wind farm in the Gulf of Maine. Part of the study is to determine what infrastructure improvements in the electric grid would be necessary to accommodate the extra electricity generated offshore.
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