Estes Park’s Fiber-Enabled Smart Grid

Trailblazer Broadband Named a Finalist for the 2025 World Broadband Association Awards

Trailblazer Broadband has been named a World Broadband Award Finalist for our project, “Estes Park’s Fiber-Enabled Smart Grid.” ⚡️🌐

For a small mountain town to be recognized on a global stage—among cutting-edge broadband and energy innovation projects from around the world—is a tremendous honor. We’re incredibly proud of our Power & Communications team, our partners at Platte River Power Authority (PRPA), and most of all, our community. Estes Park has always been willing to think big, even from our remote corner of the Rockies. This nomination shows just how far that boldness can go. 💡🏔️

A Category Filled With Global Trailblazers

The category Trailblazer was nominated in is one of the most forward-thinking of the entire awards program, honoring broadband projects that integrate next-generation technology, automation, and community benefit.

It was also highly competitive—this year’s winner was a large-scale initiative delivering broadband to 67 rural communities across Africa, a project with massive scope and global impact. Being named a finalist alongside efforts of that scale underscores the significance of Estes Park’s work and the strength of our long-term vision.

The Project

Our award nomination centers on Estes Park’s effort to build a “Smart Mountain Community”—an initiative that blends municipal fiber, modern grid technology, and community-focused resiliency.

Since 2019, the Town’s Power & Communications division has built out Trailblazer Broadband, our town-owned fiber network. That fiber now powers much more than high-speed internet. It forms the communication backbone for:

Smart electric meters
Substations
Grid monitoring and operations
Public-safety and emergency systems

This foundation allows Estes Park to take major steps toward a more resilient and efficient electric grid. In partnership with Platte River Power Authority (PRPA), the town is expanding redundant regional fiber routes and planning a 5-MW/20-MWh battery energy storage system (BESS) to support faster outage restoration, protect essential facilities, and prepare for future microgrid capabilities.

PRPA’s upcoming Distributed Energy Resource Management System (DERMS) will add AI-driven analytics that help balance renewable energy, improve reliability, and automate grid operations—solutions typically seen in much larger cities.

The result is a practical, scalable model for rural communities: use municipal fiber as the foundation for smarter energy, safer operations, and greater long-term resilience.

Read Trailblazer’s Full Award Submission starting on Page 18 of the booklet below. NOTE: Click “Controls” and [ ] to enlarge the PDF.

From Vision to Victory: Estes Park Middle School Students See Their Tech Dreams Realized

By: Trailblazer News Team – Special Report

One year ago, a group of Estes Park Middle School students did something extraordinary: they identified a classroom problem, researched it, and presented a solution. Now, they’re seeing the fruits of that labor—in the form of 20 brand-new, high-performance computers transforming their computer science lab.

A Quick Recap: Student-Led, Real-Life Learning

Last school year, students in Mrs. Ravi Davis’s Computer Science class noticed serious barriers to learning:

WiFi instability
Outdated devices
Lagging device performance that made coding and digital curriculum difficult

Instead of giving up, they proposed a project where they investigated the issues, identified potential solutions, and presented them to school tech leaders and community partners—including Trailblazer Broadband. Their goal? Create a modern lab where all students can learn, explore, and thrive.

The Big Reveal: A 21st Century Lab for Future Innovators

On September 29, 2025, the students got the surprise of a lifetime. Jon Anderson, Instructional Coach, and Mary Barron, Estes Park Middle School Assistant Principal, along with Trailblazer Broadband, were present to celebrate the impact of the students’ work with them.

Voices full of delight could be heard down the halls as Mrs. Davis revealed their new lab—now home to 20 sleek, high-powered machines, specifically chosen to support programming, coding, and creative game development platforms, a student favorite, according to the students present for the reveal.

“It’s really cool to know that the community cares about us,” said one student. Classmates and Assistant Principal Barron agreed—with cheers and wide smiles.

The room buzzed with excitement as students checked out their new machines, full of the anticipation of the upcoming semester when computers would be fully prepped for school use by district CIS Administrator and Cyber Analyst, Rick Compton. Some students were already thinking about what they could swap to be able to take Computer Science next semester before they even got the devices running!

District Budget + Community = Big Win

The transformation didn’t happen overnight. The project and getting the new devices took nearly a year.

The first 15 computers were purchased by the Estes Park School District, with support from Mrs. Davis, administration and the IT department.
At roughly $2,000 per device, this used the available technology budget for the lab.
With district approval, the Estes Park Education Foundation opened the door for community support.

And the community showed up.

Thanks to local donors—including Trailblazer Broadband—an additional $11,000 was raised, covering five more devices, bringing the total to 20 new computers.

But Wait…There’s More – The Final Five: Still Needed

To fully accommodate the class size of 25 students, five more computers are still needed. The cost for the middle school students to reach their goal and to finish the project is approximately $9,000.

If you’d like to support this impactful, student-led initiative, donations can be made through the Estes Park Education Foundation. Just earmark your gift for “Innovations in Learning” to be sure your donation goes to this project.

Every dollar helps bring this project to the finish line—and supports the next generation of tech innovators.

Words from the Classroom

The teaching staff who work with the Computer Science class are beyond proud—not just of the upgraded technology, but of the students’ ability to envision a better learning environment and make it happen.

“This is what education should look like,” one staff member reflected. “Students recognized a need, used data to make a case, and then witnessed the results of their efforts. It’s vision, problem-solving, and real-world impact.”

We left that classroom not only impressed—but inspired. These students reminded us that future engineers, game designers, data scientists, and changemakers are already here in our community. With the right tools and a little encouragement, their ideas can become reality. Thanks to the guidance of educators like Mrs. Davis and the support of a community that believes in its students, Estes Park’s next generation of tech talent is already blazing the trail.

Bonus: Did You Know?

The Estes Park Middle School building was originally constructed in 1971—more than 50 years ago—and first served as Estes Park High School until 1976.
📚 (Source: Colorado State University – EPHS History)

Though the building’s legacy is rich, materials like concrete walls and older infrastructure make modern WiFi tricky—another reason wired, high-performance lab computers are so valuable in this setting. With wired devices like the middle school now has, the students can take advantage of the lightning-fast speed of Trailblazer’s fiber optics to work–and learn–more efficiently.

Tech Tip: WiFi vs. Internet

WiFi is the wireless signal inside a building.
Internet is the service Trailblazer Broadband delivers to the school.

In this case, the internet connection was strong—it was the aging WiFi network and older laptops struggling to connect that caused issues in the classroom. Thick concrete walls and outdated devices made learning tough. But this lab upgrade is helping fix that!

Middle School Tech Lab – Student Follow-Up Questions



Tech & Learning Impact

Now that you’ve seen the new computers, what are you most excited to try first?
(Besides gaming platforms — anything new on your radar?)
Loading times, screen quality, faster processor, graphics quality\

How do you think these new computers will help future students in this class?
(What would you tell next year’s class about what’s possible now?)
These new computers will help future students learn better with a faster processor and higher quality. It will give them more time to learn and not load.

What’s something that was hard to do on the old computers that will be easier now? Over 20% of the class time was loading and waiting to get into our curriculum and platforms. We won’t experience that now.

What does having modern technology in your classroom mean to you as a student?
“It is easier to traverse, more immersive, and a better learning experience.”



Future You: Looking Ahead

Has this project changed what you might want to study in high school or after graduation?
(Are you thinking about tech, design, cybersecurity, or other STEAM fields?)
“I would continue to pursue it in high school and college because it’s good to have a handle on modern technology.” / “I want to be an engineer when I grow up so having experience in creating stuff will help me.”

If you could build your own tech class in high school, what would you include?
Using more up to date platforms expanding beyond gaming, such as “pre-aeronautics education” and include a flight simulator.

Imagine it’s 10 years from now—you’re working in tech. What job are you doing? What’s something you helped invent or build?
“I would be in naval architecture – I invented the first modern ocean liner.” / “I would be working in contract IT to help kids use modern technology.”



Community Connections

If you could say something to the people who donated or helped make this possible, what would it be?
Thank you for donating money to us. Thank you for helping our current students and future students have more time learning and less time waiting (for websites to load).
Thank you for contributing to our learning experience. This will help us in the future with hands-on experience using technology.

How do you think having stronger tech education here in Estes could help your town’s future economy?
(Ideas: more remote jobs, local startups, or even tech careers based here.)
Starting up a private company to help our elderly community.



Fun Bonus

If your class was designing a logo or motto for your new lab, what would it be?

(Bonus points if it involves lasers, robots, or elk.)

1. Name – Wapiti Laboratories
2. Logo would be a robotic elk shooting red lasers out of its eyes
3. Motto – “We are the Future”

Trailblazer’s tagline is about “Connecting Our Community.” What’s one way YOU think tech connects people?

“It helps you communicate in a quick and efficient way, which is an important luxury of modern day.”

The Anatomy of an Outage

At Trailblazer, we’re proud to deliver fiber internet that’s faster, more reliable, and more resilient than older technologies. Fiber stands up to rain, snow, wind, and just about everything else Mother Nature throws at it.

But here’s the truth: while fiber is tough, it isn’t bulletproof (and yes, we’ve literally seen fiber shot through). When damage does occur, it almost always comes from external forces beyond our control. Fixing those issues takes time, patience, and careful use of resources.

So, what causes an outage? Let’s break it down.

1. Service Lines: Close to Home

Most outages we see happen not on the main network, but on the service line—the small strand that runs from the curb to your home. These lines are especially vulnerable when they’re exposed.

Think of them as the “last mile” of your connection. And in that last mile, a lot can happen:

The family dog or curious cat may chew or claw.
Little ones exploring the yard sometimes tug or pull.
Wildlife and landscaping equipment can easily bump or damage a line.

The good news? These issues typically affect just one client at a time and are usually easier to fix.

2. Mainlines: The Heavy Lifting

Mainlines are the backbone of the network. A single stretch of fiber can carry service to dozens—or even hundreds—of homes.

Mainline outages tend to happen when:

Construction crews accidentally hit buried fiber because locates are off or incomplete.
Excavation work crushes conduit.
Large equipment knocks down overhead lines.

These types of hits are usually reported right away. Contractors call us immediately, making the damage location easier to find and fix.

3. Wildlife: Nature at Work

Wildlife has a knack for finding ways to test human infrastructure. Across the fiber industry, animals are a surprisingly common culprit:

Rodents sometimes chew through underground lines where conduit has worn out.
Ground dwellers sneak into areas where conduit can’t be installed.
Elk have even pulled down aerial fiber lines while moving through the valley.

But in Estes Valley, the number one wildlife threat is the Northern Flicker woodpecker.

4. The Woodpecker Effect

It may sound funny, but it’s no joke. Woodpeckers peck holes into the top of aerial fiber lines. Even the largest holes may only be the size of a pencil eraser, but they can take down service for up to 144 homes on a single feeder fiber.

Here’s why that’s such a challenge:

Damage is invisible from the ground—we can’t spot it until service fails.
Feeder spans can stretch up to 300 feet. A single tiny hole may take hours to locate.
Temporary cutovers aren’t always possible. When they’re not, crews must splice each strand of the damaged line—thinner than a human hair—individually. With up to 144 strands, that’s painstaking, time-consuming, and costly work.

Whenever possible, we reroute service to temporary lines. Then, once new armored fiber is installed, we schedule a short outage to reconnect everything permanently.

5. Balancing Speed and Stewardship

As a community-owned utility, we’re careful with both time and money. We can’t replace every mile of fiber “just in case.” Instead, we focus resources where damage is confirmed, and we replace with armored fiber to help prevent future problems.

This approach means:

Repairs may take longer than we’d all like.
Scheduled outages are sometimes needed to complete permanent fixes.
Your dollars are being invested wisely, not wasted on unnecessary work.

The Takeaway

Fiber is exceptionally resilient. But when damage does occur—whether from construction, critters, or yes, woodpeckers—it takes careful, skilled work to put it right.

We know outages are frustrating. We don’t like them either. That’s why our crews work around the clock to find, fix, and fortify damaged lines, keeping Estes Valley connected for the long run.