Broadband and electric services expanded to cabins and homes along Arrowhead Trail

Kalli Hawkins | August 6, 2024

Residents and cabin owners along the Arrowhead Trail, including those on McFarland Lake and Tom Lake, will soon have access to electric and broadband services, marking a transformative shift to the remote area of Cook County.

The expansion of services, funded by the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF), aims to bridge the digital divide by investing billions nationwide to build and expand broadband networks in rural areas of the United States. The RDOF was introduced by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in 2019 and is the single largest investment to expand and improve communications services in the U.S. Phase 1 of the RDOF includes a 10-year investment of $16.4 billion, with Phase 2 providing $4.4 billion.

Arrowhead Cooperative, the electric and internet provider in Cook County, applied for grant funding through the RDOF in 2019 and was awarded funds to expand services in the county in Nov. 2021. Since receiving the funds, Arrowhead Cooperative has begun installing electric and fiber in Cook County, including, most recently, the Arrowhead Trail. In 2023, Arrowhead Cooperative oversaw the installment of 19.3 miles of infrastructure.

“It’s exciting,” John Twiest, Arrowhead Cooperative CEO, said. “Some of those cabin owners will actually have electric lights, not just gas-powered lights or generator-powered lights, but actually connected to the grid for their power and also connected to the overall broadband network.”

Arrowhead Cooperative Electric Operations Coordinator Steve Waver said the goal for summer 2024 is to install “about 30.3 miles” of underground infrastructure. The services will now reach the cabin and homeowners at McFarland Lake, Irish Creek Rd, Brumbaugh Rd on Tom Lake, and sections of Shoe Lake Rd.

The expansion of electric and broadband services to the remote stretch of the Arrowhead Trail has been received with a balance of excitement and weariness from some Arrowhead Trail business and cabin owners.

“I have mixed feelings about power coming up,” Linda Newman, owner of Points Unknown, an off-grid business located along Irish Creek Rd, said. “I would prefer to keep this as remote as we can.”

Newman runs her sled dog and outdoor adventure business completely off-grid, using a complex setup of 16 solar panels, 24 deep cycle batteries to store energy, and propane generators. “I’ve made all of this work,” she said.

She said she suspects the expansion of broadband and electric services “will make it easier for people to come up and live here” and potentially change the culture and community along the Arrowhead Trail. However, despite her mixed feelings about the changes, Newman said she would adjust and “accept it and adapt to do what needs to be done to maintain my peace and my lifestyle as best I can.”

Farther up the Arrowhead Trail, at McFarland Lake, cabin owner Annette Cozzi looks forward to the addition of services and the capability to improve communication while at her cabin.

“So the broadband, the communication piece, will be a big peace of mind for me,” Cozzi said. Currently, Cozzi does not have cell service at her cabin, and she would prefer to have the capability to communicate with her family when needed. With the addition of the services, she is looking forward to the ability to contact loved ones. Adding convenience, such as plugging in a coffee pot, is another aspect of the cabin life changes that await Cozzi. “Probably the convenience of all the working pieces that it takes to make an off-grid cabin function with certain comforts. The power will make that a lot easier for me,” she said.

Below is a complete audio feature of the expansion of services along the Arrowhead Trail produced by WTIP’s Kalli Hawkins.

A video of the Arrowhead Trail feature produced by M Baxley is below.