# Chattanooga Demonstrates Municipal Broadband Model

Chattanooga’s Electric Power Board (EPB) built a municipally owned fiber-optic broadband network alongside a smart-grid system, using a $111 million federal stimulus grant and approximately $222 million in municipal bonds. The network launched in 2010, and the project is presented as a model for how local utilities can combine communications infrastructure with public services and economic development. This is market and policy intelligence, not an active solicitation; its relevance to contractors is the potential for similar municipal or state broadband projects and the state-law constraints that can shape them.

- EPB’s financing and utility-led delivery model may inform planning for municipal broadband and digital infrastructure procurements.
- Contractors can assess opportunities tied to network construction, expansion, and related utility or public-service systems as local and state initiatives arise; no specific solicitation or deadline is identified here.
- Businesses pursuing this market should account for state-law constraints on municipal broadband, which can affect whether and how local governments or utilities procure network services.

**Jurisdictions:** sled
**Industries:** Information Technology, Construction & Infrastructure
**Topics:** Digital Infrastructure
**Published:** October 29, 2026

### Government Entities
- Electric Power Board of Chattanooga (EPB)
- City of Chattanooga
- Tennessee state government
- U.S. federal government
- Colorado General Assembly

### Key Quotes
> The number one challenge for most infrastructure projects is political. It's not financial. It's not conceptual. It's not technological.
> — Andy Berke, former Mayor of Chattanooga

> If we're going to own that fiber communications network to help automate our grid, why not offer that as a service to our customers?
> — Janet Rehberg, CEO of EPB

### Sources
- [The fix for America’s terrible internet is hiding in Tennessee](https://www.yahoo.com/news/us/articles/fix-america-terrible-internet-hiding-120000929.html) - Yahoo