Deere & Co. has received 5G licenses in five Iowa and Illinois counties as part of the Federal Communications Commission auction for the Citizens Broadband Radio Service 3.5 GHz spectrum, enabling Deere to accelerate the availability of 5G in its largest manufacturing facilities in North America, the company announced this week. Providing 5G access and […]
Alliant Energy is launching the Clean Energy Blueprint for Iowa to transition to cleaner energy for customers using solar power and battery storage. The company also plans to discontinue coal generation in its Lansing facility by the end of 2022, while transitioning their Burlington Generating Station to natural gas in 2021. The Clean Energy Blueprint […]
AFWERX, the U.S. Air Force’s innovation catalyst, is extending the deadline for the Department of Defense Reimagining Energy Challenge, a program challenge to modernize and create resilient energy production, transmission, utilization and storage for the U.S. Air Force. The submission deadline to the Reimagining Energy Challenge is Oct. 29; participants who submit by Oct. 21 will be […]
MidAmerican Energy says it has idled nearly four dozen electricity-generating wind turbines while workers check them for safety after blades broke off of two similar turbines over the past two months, reports the Des Moines Register. Those blade failures follow a break earlier this year and one in 2019. The blades that fell recently were on […]
U.S. Cellular has expanded access to the company’s 5G network for 19 communities in central Iowa, the company announced Wednesday. Customers in parts of Ackworth, Albion, Attica, Bevington, Cedar, Clutier, Cooper, Cumming, De Soto, Fontanelle, Hartwick, Lincoln, Lynnville, Malcolm, Martensdale, Pleasant Hill, St. Charles, St. Marys and Spring Hill can now access 5G coverage along […]
As broadband providers watched in late spring, the needs of Iowans evolved rapidly, representatives at Mediacom and Minburn Communications said this month. Both companies saw an almost immediate shift in peak activity by residential users from the evening hours — Mediacom customers shifted to 3-4 p.m., and Minburn Communications saw peak use essentially level across the […]
Slater-based Gross-Wen Technologies Inc. has received a $240,000 grant from the Department of Energy to develop a next-generation process to remove phosphorus from wastewater. According to a news release, the company will partner on one of 82 projects supported by the grant from the DOE’s Technology Commercialization Fund. The project will be led by the […]
Iowa has received $26.2 million in federal relief to fund broadband access for students, the Iowa Department of Education announced this week. Iowa’s grant is part of the nearly $3 billion Governor’s Emergency Education Relief (GEER) fund authorized by the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act. The Iowa Department of Education and the […]
Des Moines-based “smart building” startup Igor received the 2020 Sapphire Award for its Nexos Linear Network Node under the category of “Emergency SSL Luminaires, Modules and Drivers,” the company announced today. Igor was the only Iowa company nominated for awards among competitors including Samsung, Dow and Signify (formerly Philips Lighting). Igor was also a finalist […]
Philip Groner, a 20-year employee of the Iowa Communications Network and executive director since 2018, has died after a battle with cancer, ICN announced today. “His passing is a great loss to the State of Iowa and the customers that he loyally served. The Iowa Telecommunications and Technology Commission and the ICN extend our deepest […]