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The problem with publicly owned power coops, which the article touches on repeatedly, is that they form a model for the straightforward provisioning of modern n

The problem with publicly owned power coops, which the article touches on repeatedly, is that they form a model for the straightforward provisioning of modern necessities. Left unchecked, this can end up spreading. For example, my municipal electric company got bored and decided to branch out into providing Internet service. $75/mo for a gigabit symmetric, no caps, no contractual pricing games. And now that they've finished building out the whole town, they're using that experience to help smaller neighboring towns build out their own networks as well.

namuol 2y ago
Sounds awful. Which city?
bsder 2y ago
And this can be a mixed bag. Princeton, MA is a really good example because they've got success and failure. They sort of succeeded with Internet and sort of failed with electricity (and windmills). See Mad Ned blogs for Internet: https://madned.substack.com/p/thin-pipe-part-i https://madned.substack.com/p/thin-pipe-part-i https://madned.substack.com/p/thin-pipe-part-ii https://madned.substack.com/p/thin-pipe-part-ii
yial 2y ago
I may sound stupid here, but what is the problem? (Where I am, this would be a better option then anything I have available ).
foobarchu 2y ago
Municipal broadband/fiber is fantastic. Locally owned so they're much more incentivized to provide good service. I lived a while in a satellite town of the smaller city I grew up in, and it had an electric cooperative instead of the company that has a monopoly over pretty much the rest of the state. It was significantly more reliable service, because there were stakes and it's not completely for profit. The same town also has a municipal fiber company, who has begun branching into the anchor city. Everyone is excited for it, because again they provide a wildly superior service in every way. The massive corporations with the former duopoly are clearly in fear of this, to the point a technician showed up unannounced to check the decaying wiring and connections"free of charge" (this is unheard of in the 25 years I've been forced to use them).

namuol 2y ago

Sounds awful. Which city?

bsder 2y ago

And this can be a mixed bag. Princeton, MA is a really good example because they've got success and failure. They sort of succeeded with Internet and sort of failed with electricity (and windmills). See Mad Ned blogs for Internet: https://madned.substack.com/p/thin-pipe-part-i https://madned.substack.com/p/thin-pipe-part-i https://madned.substack.com/p/thin-pipe-part-ii https://madned.substack.com/p/thin-pipe-part-ii

yial 2y ago

I may sound stupid here, but what is the problem? (Where I am, this would be a better option then anything I have available ).

foobarchu 2y ago

Municipal broadband/fiber is fantastic. Locally owned so they're much more incentivized to provide good service. I lived a while in a satellite town of the smaller city I grew up in, and it had an electric cooperative instead of the company that has a monopoly over pretty much the rest of the state. It was significantly more reliable service, because there were stakes and it's not completely for profit. The same town also has a municipal fiber company, who has begun branching into the anchor city. Everyone is excited for it, because again they provide a wildly superior service in every way. The massive corporations with the former duopoly are clearly in fear of this, to the point a technician showed up unannounced to check the decaying wiring and connections"free of charge" (this is unheard of in the 25 years I've been forced to use them).