Electric Cooperatives Lead the Charge to Connect Rural America at NRECA Broadband Leadership Summit
More than 150 cooperative leaders are in Washington this week for the NRECA Broadband Leadership Summit, an annual fly-in event where electric cooperatives advocate for federal policies that support broadband deployment in underserved rural communities. The summit highlighted the crucial role co-ops play in closing the digital divide — and the growing urgency to accelerate support through smart federal programs.
NRECA CEO Jim Matheson opened the session by noting that over 200 electric cooperatives are now delivering broadband services to their communities. “This effort mirrors the rural electrification mission of the 1930s and 40s — when the private sector wouldn’t serve us, we stepped up,” Matheson said. “Today, broadband is just as essential, and co-ops are once again leading the way.”
Matheson emphasized that in order for rural broadband to succeed, public investment must “future-proof” networks and hold providers accountable for delivery. He called for reform to BEAD (Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment) program regulations, continued support for the USDA ReConnect Program through the Reconnecting Rural America Act, and accurate broadband coverage maps to ensure funding reaches unserved areas.
CEO of United Cooperative Services (TX) Cameron Smallwood said UCS is delivering fiber-to-home service to over 110,000 locations near the Dallas-Fort Worth metro, noting a customer satisfaction score of 94 — exceeding industry norms. “Our members voted for this,” Smallwood said. “We’re investing another $130 million to finish the job — but we need BEAD funding to reach our most remote areas.”
CEO of Otsego Electric Cooperative (NY) Tim Johnson said OEC recognized early on that local residents were underserved by legacy DSL and cable providers. In response, the co-op leveraged funding from a $500 million New York State program, securing approximately $10 million across two rounds to build a robust fiber backbone.
Construction was completed just prior to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Johnson said six months, the co-op secured half of its current broadband subscribers. Today, OEC provides gigabit-speed service to more than 2,300 active subscribers across a low-density service area with an average of five homes per mile.
Johnson said there were some roadblocks preventing his co-op from participating in the BEAD program. Chief among them are New York State’s policy decisions, including the imposition of prevailing wage labor requirements that "are nearly impossible to meet in remote regions, and an artificially low $15 monthly pricing cap that doesn’t come close to covering operational costs." ... “We simply can’t put our members at financial risk under these conditions,” Johnson said. He stressed that while federal programs like USDA’s ReConnect are well-tailored to co-ops, state-level constraints on BEAD implementation are sidelining smaller rural providers — even those with proven success and community trust.
“Electric cooperatives are not just deploying broadband — they’re delivering reliability, speed, and accountability in places no one else will. But we need strong, flexible policies that empower us to finish what we’ve started," Matheson said.
