If you are a member of the media and would like more information, please contact Patty Nowlin at (269) 445-1079 or by e-mail at pattyn@teammidwest.com

BROADBAND OVER POWERLINE PROJECT UPDATE: April 3, 2008

We have been on the road for the last six weeks with our 2008 district shareholder meetings, and a popular topic of conversation was our long-awaited Broadband Over Powerline (BPL) project. We were able to offer information and updates in that setting, and wanted to provide you with a similar update as you wait.

Our BPL business partner, IBEC, submitted a $50 million loan application to the RUS in August 2006 for deployment of 13 BPL projects, including ours. RUS is an arm of the United States Department of Agriculture that deals specifically with utility services in rural America. Once the application was submitted, we began working with IBEC on our small-scale demonstration project, which went live late last year and has produced continued and growing interest and enthusiasm.

IBEC’s application sat for 18 months before we learned that an inter-departmental battle at RUS was holding up the funding. There is wide-scale support for the project and technology, but the electric and telecommunications sides of RUS are debating issues related to a telecom product going into electric space. They have formed a working committee, which includes our vice president of engineering, to develop a set of standards and specs that will address the concerns of the electric side of RUS.

We were extremely disappointed and frustrated to learn all of this, but we have initiated some action steps that we hope will move this along. We obviously don’t want committee work to stall this important effort. We engaged the help and support of Michigan Representatives Fred Upton and Tim Walberg to see if they can shake some money loose so that we can begin our roll out. Both offices have initiated communication with RUS and we are awaiting the reply.

More than 400 of those on our waiting list submitted testimonials related to your need for high-speed Internet, and we used those in conveying the importance of this effort with the Congressmen. Both were deeply moved and touched by the desperation and sincerity of the letters. We thank everyone who responded so quickly.

Please understand that BPL will happen. It’s not a question of “if” but a question of “when”.  Now that we understand the hold up, we are actively engaged in moving the process forward and will keep you apprised of any news that we receive.

Thank you for your continued patience.

Sincerely,

The BPL Team

Midwest Energy Cooperative