Rural Development

PERU, VT— This week, Senator Peter Welch (D-Vt.) attended Southern Vermont Communications Union District’s (SoVT CUD) celebration of broadband buildout across 14 southern Vermont towns. By the end of this year the CUD will have provided broadband coverage via fiber to more than 99% of…

WHITE RIVER JUNCTION – Today, Senator Peter Welch (D-Vt.) joined ECFiber, Vermont’s first Communications Union District (CUD), to celebrate the completion of its mission to build broadband in 23 rural Vermont towns throughout East Central Vermont. The project started during a Town Meeting Day in…

BURLINGTON, VT—Today, the Biden-Harris Administration announced Vermont will receive nearly $230 million to deploy broadband throughout the state as part of the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program, which is a program of the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. Senator Peter Welch (D-VT)…

WASHINGTON—Senator Peter Welch (D-Vt.) and Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-Ark.) will today introduce legislation to reauthorize the Rural Energy Savings Program (RESP), a United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) initiative providing no-interest loans to rural utilities to help communities access cost-effective energy upgrades for homes and businesses.…

BROADBAND PUSH: Sen. Peter Welch might be new to the upper chamber, but he’s no stranger to the challenges facing rural America, and especially the fight for broadband internet access. Welch, who co-founded the bipartisan rural broadband caucus in the House, now heads the Senate Ag…