U.S. Department of Communication awards nearly $15M grant to ComEd for Chicago’s grid reliability and broadband connectivity
ComEd earned a $14.5 million federal infrastructure grant from the U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) this week, as a means of improving both grid reliability and broadband connectivity in parts of Chicago.
Closing the digital divide for those communities lacking equitable access was a key piece of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), a major focus of the Biden administration’s early days in 2021. As part of that bill, the federal government offered approximately $1 billion to reduce costs associated with connecting underserved or unserved communities through the building out of middle mile broadband infrastructure.
In the case of this grant in particular, the Middle Mile Grant, investor-owned utilities were one of the eligible drivers of this.
“Advanced communications networks are essential to achieving higher levels of reliability and resiliency of the electric grid, especially as we connect more distributed energy resources like solar and battery storage to the power grid,” Michelle Blaise, ComEd’s senior vice president of technical services, said. “Like other utilities across the country that are stepping up to the challenge, we are proud to have partnered with community stakeholders to secure federal funding that will leverage our necessary investments in advanced communications networks to create the additional benefit of improving access to high-speed broadband on the west and south sides of Chicago.”
According to Kids First Chicago, as of 2021, nearly 200,000 Chicago households still lacked access to broadband. ComEd already had plans to deploy more than 400 miles of fiber optic cable in Chicago over the next five years to build up the evolving grid and improve its advanced communication network, but this grant will allow it to bring new middle-mile infrastructure into 24 communities in need, assisting as many as 440,000 households.
ComEd has long invested in and utilized fiber optic infrastructure as part of its advanced communications network, and now, it will grant last-mile service providers affordable access to dark fiber capacity along its middle mile network. This will in turn significantly reduce costs for third-party internet service providers, allowing greater deployment of broadband to areas of need.
“In an increasingly interconnected world, bridging the digital divide isn’t just a matter of equality; it’s a fundamental necessity for progress and empowerment, ensuring that no one is left behind in the pursuit of knowledge, opportunity, and social inclusion,” Daniel Anello, CEO of Kids First Chicago, said.
