St. Paul (LEARFIELD) – State lawmakers are considering a bill that would allow rural electric cooperatives to use existing and future held easements for broadband.

Brian Krambeer is President and CEO of My Energy Cooperative and he says there are 44 electric co-ops in Minnesota, and also states, “…and many of the electric co-ops are putting fiber in the ground themselves just to operate their electric distribution systems and what we’re hoping to do is be able to utilize some of the resources that the electric co-ops have to be able to offer that to other retail providers to deliver broadband”

Krambeer calls broadband in Greater Minnesota an “important quality of life” issue–similar to electrification in the 1930s. He says the bill has bipartisan support.