Jo-Carroll Energy (JCE) was selected to receive a $14 million ReConnect grant from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) to provide broadband service in unserved and underserved rural areas. This grant investment is part of the $550 million Congress allocated to the second round of the ReConnect Program.

Jo-Carroll Energy will use the $14 million grant to deploy a fiber-to-the-premise network to an area with 7,629 people, 378 farms, 150 businesses, eight public schools, three fire stations, two post offices and two museums to high-speed broadband internet in Jo Daviess, Carroll, Whiteside and Stephenson counties in Illinois. The grant will accelerate buildout of high-speed fiber internet to rural areas by Jo-Carroll Energy’s broadband division, Sand Prairie. JCE’s grant application included eight separate proposed funded service areas (PFSAs) 250 square miles in portions of Jo Daviess, Stephenson, Carroll, and Whiteside Counties in Illinois, as well as small areas in Grant and Lafayette counties in Wisconsin.  Click here for additional information.