Nevada & Hempstead Counties Part of $75 Million Electric Infrastructure Program

As part of the Electric Loan Program, Arkansas Electric Co-op Corps is receiving these funds to build and improve electric transmission and distribution lines across the state, which will benefit thousands of residents in rural areas. The loan also includes funding for smart grid technology, which uses digital communications to detect and react to local changes in electricity usage. The 2018 Farm Bill reauthorized these programs, allowing USDA to carry out rural broadband initiatives.

“Rural broadband connectivity has always been an issue in Arkansas. As digital communications become more important to daily life, every Arkansan should at least have the option to connect to fast, reliable internet. These funds will be instrumental to aiding electric companies in improving their broadband infrastructure, and we thank USDA Secretary Perdue for his continued support of rural America,” members said.

Electric Infrastructure Loan and Loan Guarantee Program Counties benefiting include Nevada, Hempstead, Columbia, Lafayette, Pike, Sevier, Clark, Howard and Little River.

This Rural Development investment is to finance the installation of 2,073 miles of fiber optic cable to provide a backbone communications network for Smart Grid purposes, such as to improve reliability and grid communication between the Distribution Cooperatives. Arkansas Electric is a generation and transmission cooperative with headquarters based in Little Rock, Arkansas and provides wholesale electric service to 17 electric distribution cooperative members, including 74 Arkansas counties.