At its current pace of growth, the Sprout Fiber internet service offered locally by the Cullman Electric Cooperative should be available to every co-op member who requests it by 2026.

Introduced in 2021 as the first and only online option for many rural residents, CEC’s Sprout Fiber internet service has continually expanded its infrastructure across the co-op’s service area. At the cooperative’s 88th annual meeting Sept. 14, CEO Tim Culpepper revealed plans to additionally expand the service’s reach next year, with the goal of fully serving all CEC members by 2026.

“Your response to our high-speed broadband internet service has been phenomenal,” Culpepper told attendees at the annual meeting, held at Northbrook Church in Cullman. “Around 40 percent of those who are eligible for service have signed up for high-speed internet service with us. The 2025 expansion plan is heavily influenced by grant funding, with almost all of our expansion areas at least partially funded by grants.”

Culpepper said the member-owned utility plans to expand its Sprout service to more than 7,000 additional locations during 2025. The co-op’s fiber-optic broadband service currently has more than 11,500 subscribers.

According to a CEC release, more than 1,100 people participated in this year’s annual meeting, which this year fielded votes from members to select three representatives on the cooperative’s Board of Trustees. Incumbent board members Phillip Garrison (District 1), Robert Tidwell (District 3), and Dr. Lisa Weeks (District 5) all were re-elected to serve three-year terms.

Culpepper additionally updated members on how the co-op is facing the challenges of meeting demand through a period of “record” local growth.

“We continue to experience record growth,” Culpepper said. “We have never grown this fast, and it doesn’t appear to be slowing down. Growth is generally a good thing, but it does bring challenges and costs. We have built two new substations at Berlin and Trade and will build two more in the next few years at Jones Chapel and on Highway 91 to meet the increased demand for electricity.”

A total of 4,161 co-op members mailed in ballots for this year’s Board of Trustees election, while another 229 voted at the cooperative’s annual meeting.