I attended ACEEE’s inaugural rural energy event in Atlanta and was reminded that my town—Healdsburg, CA—actually qualifies as Rural America under USDA Rural Utility Service rules. Despite being near San Francisco, our agricultural base and ~11,840 residents put us squarely in scope—and that makes sense given our roots (once prunes, now wine grapes).
15% of Americans live in rural areas, yet only ~2% are still farmers.
Even today, lack of high-speed mobile/broadband blocks full participation in the economy for many low-income and remote households. ~25 million people still have little or no high-speed broadband. As one presenter paraphrased: without internet, you either move—or you struggle to access daily services moving online (tele-health, e-commerce, smart irrigation, etc.).
Rural China shows what happens when connectivity arrives: “Taobao villages” flourished once isolated communities began selling via Alibaba. The World Bank noted Dongfeng village went from one online shop in 2006 to a local ecosystem of factories, logistics firms, and 400+ households in e-commerce by 2010.
The most exciting theme for the energy crowd is the nexus of digitization and clean energy. Pioneering rural co-ops are rolling out fiber broadband to modernize grids and help members manage energy; new financing and on-bill repayment models are scaling; and leadership like Ouachita Electric Cooperative’s has embraced community solar after re-examining costs.
Rural co-ops have a key advantage over IOUs: they exist to serve members, not Wall Street. Many now see themselves as service providers (not commodity sellers)—with eye-opening results. Ouachita has encouraged ~10% of homeowners to complete retrofits and cut peak demand by 35%+ (~2 kW per home), earning 10%+ returns used to fund community solar. Those investments are also bringing back jobs.
Parallel tracks meant I couldn’t catch every case study, but several are posted on the event site.
ACEEE’s inaugural rural energy event dispelled the myth that innovation doesn’t happen in rural areas—new tech can be adopted quickly.
Still, many utilities are grappling with delivering great service everywhere—even in areas with poor connectivity.
Per ACEEE’s Neal Elliott, rural areas face a 42% higher energy burden than urban areas. Limited broadband can reduce participation in efficiency programs. Research from Wisconsin’s PSC found rural customers (broadband-defined) received fewer Focus on Energy incentives:
Cost-effectiveness priorities can leave rural customers behind: direct-install is cheaper in dense areas; contractor networks mirror where contractors are; and marketing can be less efficient due to media market complexity or limited co-op participation.
With broadband, digital tools can solve real barriers. National Grid shared a case study rolling out a fully digital automated workflow for Mass Save Home Energy Services across Massachusetts—even where connectivity was unreliable (~20% of territory). After testing signal boosters (meh results), creative programming and offline modes made it work across vendors and contractors.
E-commerce also helps: it boosts rural incomes by supporting local businesses and makes shopping more efficient when stores are few and far between.
Enervee’s online choice engines help any online shopper pick efficient products that don’t cost more up front and cut bills over time. They also open a modern retail channel to reach rural households who might otherwise be left out by traditional program designs.
We’re eager to partner with leading organizations to leverage human-centric, data-driven tech that meets rural energy needs across 72% of U.S. land and 42% of the population outside metro areas.
Bottom line: Internet access can drive inclusion, efficiency, and innovation for rural development—including in the energy sector.
Note: A “Taobao Village” (Alibaba) is a village where >10% of households run online stores and annual e-commerce revenue exceeds 10M RMB (~$1.6M).