Prairie Highway

A major obstacle to highspeed Internet services in rural areas is the miles and miles of old telephone lines that need to be replaced. While cities have gotten fiber-optic lines relatively quickly, there is a still a lot of copper in the South Dakota countryside.

An article in the Brookings Register suggests that telecomm companies have a new incentive to replace that old copper: avoiding interference from wind energy projects.

According to the article, International Telecommunications Company (ITC) went to last week’s Brookings County Commission meeting and asked that a hold be placed on the franchise agreement for the proposed Buffalo Ridge II wind energy facility and its transmission lines. ITC’s attorney raised concerns about potential interference with telecomm services where it has copper lines. The concern was not for the current proposed facility, but for possible future expansion.

Heartland LLC (Iberdrola Wind) held a meeting last month to discuss a proposed third Buffalo Ridge wind project in the area, so further wind energy development in ITC’s service area does seem likely.

ITC wants the wind project developers to help pay to replace ITC lines if replacement is necessary to avoid problems for ITC’s customers.

As wind energy facilities are built throughout South Dakota, ITC’s concern will probably come up again in other places. There has got to be a lot of old telephone lines out in the rural areas where wind power will be developed.

Will the potential need to replace old telephone lines to avoid interference turn into an excuse for not developing wind power, much as the age and size of the current electric transmission grid is used to excuse South Dakota’s slow pace of wind development? Or will this seeming conflict be recognized as an opportunity not only to transitition to clean, modern renewable energy but also to help close the digital divide?

Photo: Old-style wind generator — are there telephone lines in South Dakota just as old?