Community Stories

This feature is built substantially from the written testimony of Jody Rainey, principal of Homer-Center Junior/Senior High School and fire chief of the Cherryhill Township Volunteer Fire Company. Rainey submitted the testimony to the Pennsylvania House Communications & Technology Committee for its August 18, 2026, broadband affordability and adoption informational hearing in Indiana County. The quotations attributed to Rainey below are drawn from his written testimony; additional statistics and context have been added to expand on the issues he raised.

For Jody Rainey, broadband is not a technology issue that exists somewhere outside of everyday life.

He sees it in the classroom, where students increasingly depend on online assignments and instructional materials. He sees it at the fire station, where volunteers complete training that once required weeks of in-person evening classes. He sees it in emergency response, where communications, maps, weather information and coordination increasingly depend on an internet connection.

And he sees it in the future of his community.

Rainey serves as principal of Homer-Center Junior/Senior High School in Indiana County and as fire chief of the Cherryhill Township Volunteer Fire Company. He has spent more than three decades in education and more than four decades as a volunteer firefighter. In his written testimony to the Pennsylvania House Communications & Technology Committee’s August 18 hearing in Indiana County, he described broadband as the thread connecting the many parts of his professional and community life.

“Throughout my career in education and public safety, one truth has become increasingly clear: reliable, affordable broadband is no longer a convenience for rural Pennsylvania; it is essential infrastructure.”

That perspective comes from experience.

“For more than thirty years as an educator and more than forty years as a volunteer firefighter, I have watched technology fundamentally change how we teach, how we learn, how we communicate, and how we respond to emergencies. Broadband has become the thread that connects all of those things.”

For Rainey, the transformation is especially visible in education.

When learning no longer ends at the schoolhouse door

Rainey began his education career in 1992 through the Jobs for Pennsylvania Graduates program, where he worked with economically disadvantaged students to develop employability skills and connections with local employers.

“When I began my career in education in 1992 through the Jobs for Pennsylvania Graduates program, technology looked very different. My responsibility was helping economically disadvantaged students develop employability skills and build connections with local employers. Success depended on helping students gain access to opportunities that might otherwise not have existed.”

“Today, broadband has become one such opportunity.”

At Homer-Center, that opportunity is woven into the school day—and increasingly, into the hours after students leave the building.

“Technology has fundamentally changed education. Learning no longer ends when the dismissal bell rings. At Homer-Center, our teachers post daily lessons, assignments, instructional materials, and resources online so students can continue learning whether they are absent because of illness, surgery, family obligations, college visits, athletic competitions, or other school-sponsored activities.”

For students who have reliable internet at home, that system can make it easier to remain connected to school even when they cannot physically be there.

Rainey said he has seen a direct relationship between attendance and academic performance.

“As a principal, I have seen a direct relationship between absenteeism and academic performance. Every day a student misses school increases the likelihood that he or she will fall behind. Providing online access to classroom instruction allows students to stay connected to their learning, reduces the burden of make-up work, and gives them a much better chance of success.”

But that opportunity is not distributed equally.

“Unfortunately, that opportunity is not available equally to every student.”

The problem became impossible to ignore during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“One of the most difficult memories I have from the COVID-19 pandemic was seeing families sitting in vehicles outside our school after hours so their children could connect to our Wi-Fi and complete assignments.”

For those families, the school parking lot became an extension of the classroom—not because students were supposed to be learning from their cars, but because the internet connection they needed was not available at home.

“While the pandemic exposed the problem, it did not create it. The reality is that many rural families continue to face those same challenges today.”

Rural Pennsylvania continues to face a measurable connectivity gap. In 2023, 12 percent of rural Pennsylvania households did not have internet access, compared with 8 percent of urban households. Rural Pennsylvania had approximately 1.36 million households that year, meaning the 12 percent figure represents a substantial number of households across the Commonwealth.¹

And broadband affordability can be particularly difficult for families already making decisions about basic household expenses.

“At Homer-Center, more than half of our students qualify for free or reduced-price meals. Many of those families make difficult financial decisions every month. For them, broadband is not competing with cable television or entertainment—it is competing with groceries, utilities, gasoline, prescription medications, and other household necessities.”

That distinction is important. The digital divide is not only about whether infrastructure reaches a home.

It is also about whether a family can afford to subscribe to a service that is fast and reliable enough to meet the demands of modern life.

“Even families who have internet service often struggle with affordability. The question isn’t simply whether they have internet access; it is whether they can afford service reliable and fast enough to support multiple children completing homework while parents work remotely or access online services at the same time.”

Pennsylvania’s Digital Equity Plan makes a similar distinction, identifying both affordability and infrastructure access as barriers to digital equity. The plan notes that in 2023, statewide broadband mapping identified more than 333,000 serviceable locations without access to broadband at a minimum 100/20 Mbps speed. It also notes that limited infrastructure can contribute to higher consumer costs, including situations in which households have no cheaper alternative when service is unaffordable.²

For other families in Rainey’s district, the problem is different.

“In other areas of our district, the challenge isn’t affordability—it is availability. Families simply do not have access to dependable broadband, regardless of what they are willing to pay.”

That distinction—available versus affordable—is central to understanding the rural digital divide.

Pennsylvania’s current broadband data show improvement is underway, but the gap has not disappeared. The Pennsylvania Broadband Development Authority’s current maps list 132,958 Pennsylvania locations without 100/20 Mbps service in 2026, down from 331,054 locations in 2022.³

The progress matters. So does what remains.

Rainey puts the issue in terms of equal opportunity.

“As educators, we ask every student to achieve at high levels. We should also ensure that every student has the same opportunity to access the tools necessary for success. A student’s ZIP code or family income should never determine whether they can fully participate in their education.”

That concern is especially significant in rural Pennsylvania, where educational and economic circumstances can differ from those in urban communities. In 2023, 25 percent of rural Pennsylvanians age 25 and older had a bachelor’s degree or higher, compared with 38 percent of their urban counterparts. Rural school districts also served approximately 368,568 students in the 2023–24 academic year, with enrollment having declined nearly 10 percent over the previous decade.⁴

For rural communities thinking about how to retain young people and build a future workforce, ensuring students can fully participate in today’s digital economy is part of that challenge.

For Rainey, though, broadband’s importance does not stop when the school day ends.

It follows him to the fire station.

Broadband at the fire station

Rainey’s second perspective comes from more than 40 years as a volunteer firefighter.

He describes recruiting and retaining volunteers as one of the greatest challenges facing his department.

“The men and women who serve our communities are balancing careers, families, and countless other responsibilities before they ever respond to an emergency call.”

That reality has changed the value of flexible training.

For many years, Rainey explained, firefighter certification meant weeks of evening classroom sessions.

“For working adults, this often became a barrier to entering or remaining in the fire service.”

Pennsylvania’s move toward hybrid firefighter education has changed that equation.

“Pennsylvania’s move toward hybrid firefighter education has been one of the most encouraging changes I have seen. Volunteers can now complete appropriate portions of their classroom instruction online while still receiving the essential hands-on practical training that our profession demands.”

The flexibility has mattered to Rainey personally.

“Speaking personally, that flexibility has made a tremendous difference. As someone balancing responsibilities as both a school principal and a volunteer fire chief, I have had to miss training opportunities due to work obligations. Hybrid learning has allowed me—and many of the volunteers I serve alongside—to continue our professional development without sacrificing our commitment to our employers or our families.”

And, he said, he has already seen more members of his department register for training since hybrid opportunities became available.

“Since these hybrid opportunities have become available, I have already seen more members of our department register for training.”

But hybrid training only works if volunteers can actually get online.

“However, that progress depends upon affordable and reliable broadband.”

“When firefighters cannot access online coursework from home, the opportunity is diminished.”

The department has responded by creating another access point.

“We have invested in providing internet access at our fire station so members can complete training at our station, if necessary, but every volunteer should have the ability to continue learning from home.”

The issue is particularly relevant in rural Pennsylvania, where volunteer firefighters remain an important part of the emergency-response system. Research conducted for the Center for Rural Pennsylvania included surveys of 701 rural Pennsylvania firefighters, along with interviews with rural fire chiefs and other fire officials, to examine recruitment and retention challenges facing rural volunteer fire companies.⁵

The barriers identified in that research predate today’s widespread use of online firefighter training, but Rainey’s experience illustrates how digital access has become part of the larger question of whether volunteers can realistically complete the training required to serve their communities.

And training is only one part of the connection between broadband and public safety.

When connectivity becomes part of an emergency response

Rainey argues that broadband increasingly matters once a firefighter is responding to an emergency—not just when that firefighter is preparing for one.

“Broadband also strengthens emergency response itself. Increasingly, emergency communications, mapping systems, incident information, weather resources, and coordination among responders depend upon reliable internet connectivity.”

“The stronger our communications infrastructure, the better equipped we are to protect the citizens we serve.”

Pennsylvania’s statewide broadband planning recognizes public safety as one of the areas affected by connectivity. The Commonwealth’s broadband plan identifies broadband as important to emergency communications and notes that first responders need reliable connectivity to communicate effectively.⁶

The state’s newer broadband strategy similarly treats broadband as infrastructure supporting public safety, education, healthcare, businesses and workers.⁷

For Rainey, those connections are not separate policy categories. They are part of the same community.

The student who needs internet access to finish an assignment is also a future worker.

The volunteer firefighter completing online coursework is also the person a neighbor may depend on during an emergency.

The family that needs reliable internet for a telehealth appointment is part of the same community that is trying to attract new businesses and retain young people.

And all of those needs depend on the same underlying infrastructure.

A rural community looking toward a digital future

That connection becomes particularly significant in Indiana County because of what is happening at the former Homer City power plant.

Rainey describes the region as standing at a pivotal moment.

“Our region also stands on the threshold of tremendous opportunity.”

“The Homer City Redevelopment Project has the potential to transform our area into a hub for energy production, data centers, advanced technology, and economic growth.”

The former Homer City Generating Plant, a 2-gigawatt coal-fired power plant that closed in 2023, is being redeveloped as a more than 3,200-acre natural-gas-powered data center campus designed to serve the growing demand for artificial intelligence and high-performance computing.⁸

According to the project developer, the development is expected to provide up to 4.4 gigawatts of power and create more than 10,000 direct on-site construction-related jobs, along with approximately 1,000 permanent direct and indirect positions in technology, operations and energy infrastructure.⁹

It represents a striking transformation for a community whose economy has long been tied to energy.

But Rainey sees a question alongside that opportunity: Will the people who already live in rural communities be able to participate in the digital economy being built around them?

“These developments offer exciting possibilities for rural Pennsylvania.”

“But those opportunities will increasingly depend upon digital connectivity.”

For Rainey, the question is not simply whether a major technology project can locate in rural Pennsylvania.

It is whether rural Pennsylvanians can build their own futures alongside it.

“If we want our students to remain in our communities after graduation…if we want businesses to invest in rural Pennsylvania…if we want families to build their futures here…then affordable, reliable broadband must be part of that future.”

Rural Pennsylvania faces real demographic and economic pressures. The Center for Rural Pennsylvania reports that the rural population declined about 2 percent between 2010 and 2020, while the urban population grew about 2 percent. In 2023, rural Pennsylvania’s per-capita personal income was $56,478, compared with $73,309 in urban Pennsylvania.¹⁰

At the same time, rural Pennsylvania accounts for approximately 3.37 million residents—about 26 percent of the Commonwealth’s population.¹¹

That makes the question of rural connectivity a statewide economic question, not simply a rural one.

Rainey’s argument is that investment in broadband should be understood in the same way.

“Innovation should not stop at the edge of a town or at the end of a rural road.”

Broadband as an investment in people

Rainey’s career has crossed education, public safety and community leadership. He has served as an educator, school board member, volunteer firefighter and fire chief.

Those experiences shape how he thinks about infrastructure.

“Throughout my career—as an educator, school board member, volunteer firefighter, fire chief, and community leader—I have learned that every important investment we make is ultimately an investment in people.”

“Broadband is no different.”

The consequences of connectivity extend into healthcare, too.

Rural Pennsylvania has fewer healthcare resources per resident than urban Pennsylvania. In 2022, rural counties had approximately one primary care physician for every 1,395 residents, compared with one for every 788 residents in urban counties. In 2023, 10 rural counties had no general acute-care hospital.¹²

Reliable broadband cannot replace doctors, hospitals or emergency services. But it can help connect rural residents to healthcare resources that may otherwise require greater travel or time.

That is part of what Rainey means when he describes broadband as an opportunity rather than simply a utility.

“It is not simply about technology. It is about opportunity.”

“It is about whether a child has the same educational opportunities regardless of where they live, whether a volunteer firefighter has access to life-saving training, whether a family can connect to healthcare, and whether a rural community can participate fully in Pennsylvania’s future.”

The Commonwealth’s Digital Equity Plan similarly frames digital equity around the ability to meaningfully use broadband for education, healthcare, employment, economic opportunity and access to services.¹³

For Rainey, however, the argument ultimately comes back to something simpler.

It is about whether people can participate in the communities they call home.

“Reliable, affordable broadband has become as essential to rural communities today as electricity, safe roads, and dependable public infrastructure were to previous generations.”

And his conclusion is equally direct:

“Every Pennsylvanian deserves that opportunity.”

Notes

1. Center for Rural Pennsylvania, “Rural Quick Facts,” Pennsylvania General Assembly, accessed September 2, 2026, https://www.rural.pa.gov/data/rural-quick-facts. The Center reports that in 2023, 12 percent of rural Pennsylvania households and 8 percent of urban Pennsylvania households did not have internet access. It also reports 1.36 million rural households in 2023. (Center for Rural Pennsylvania)
2. Pennsylvania Broadband Development Authority, Connected and Empowered: A Digital Equity Plan for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania (Harrisburg: Pennsylvania Broadband Development Authority, February 13, 2025), 99, https://broadband.pa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/DigitalEquityPlan_02-13-2025Final.pdf. The plan identifies affordability and infrastructure access as barriers and reports that 2023 statewide broadband mapping identified more than 333,000 serviceable locations without access to broadband at a minimum 100/20 Mbps speed. (Broadband Pennsylvania)
3. Pennsylvania Broadband Development Authority, “Maps & Data,” accessed September 2, 2026, https://broadband.pa.gov/maps-data/. PBDA currently reports 132,958 Pennsylvania locations without 100/20 Mbps service and provides historical figures of 331,054 in 2022, 287,630 in 2023, 254,665 in 2024 and 155,785 in 2025. (Broadband Pennsylvania)
4. Center for Rural Pennsylvania, “Rural Quick Facts.” The Center reports that 25 percent of rural Pennsylvanians age 25 and older had a bachelor’s degree or higher in 2023, compared with 38 percent in urban Pennsylvania; 368,568 students were enrolled in 238 rural school districts during the 2023–24 academic year; and rural enrollment declined nearly 10 percent from 2014 to 2024. (Center for Rural Pennsylvania)
5. Center for Rural Pennsylvania, “Strategies to Recruit, Retain Volunteer Firefighters,” Rural Perspectives, Pennsylvania General Assembly, accessed September 2, 2026, https://www.rural.pa.gov/publications/newsletter/139. The research included interviews with 35 rural Pennsylvania fire chiefs, a survey of 701 rural Pennsylvania firefighters, and interviews with 41 volunteer firefighters. (Center for Rural Pennsylvania)
6. Pennsylvania Broadband Development Authority, Pennsylvania Statewide Broadband Plan (Harrisburg: Pennsylvania Broadband Development Authority, 2022), https://broadband.pa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/StatewideBroadbandPlan_2022.pdf. The plan discusses broadband’s role in education, healthcare, economic development and public safety and identifies the importance of reliable connectivity for first responders. (Broadband Pennsylvania)
7. Pennsylvania Broadband Development Authority, “Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program,” accessed September 2, 2026, https://broadband.pa.gov/funding/broadband-equity-access-and-deployment-bead-program/. PBDA describes high-speed internet as a necessity supporting public safety, business and worker opportunities, and educational opportunity. (Broadband Pennsylvania)
8. Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, “Homer City Generation Site Redevelopment,” updated August 31, 2026, https://www.pa.gov/agencies/dep/dep-regions/northwest-regional-office/homer-city-generation-redevelopment. DEP describes the former Homer City Generating Plant as a 2-gigawatt coal-fired plant that ceased operations in 2023 and is being redeveloped into a more than 3,200-acre natural-gas-powered data center campus designed to support artificial intelligence and high-performance computing. 
9. Homer City Redevelopment, “Project Overview,” accessed September 2, 2026, https://www.homercityredevelopment.com/project-overview. The developer projects up to 4.4 gigawatts of power, more than 10,000 direct on-site construction-related jobs, and approximately 1,000 total direct and indirect permanent positions in technology, operations and energy infrastructure. 
10. Center for Rural Pennsylvania, “Rural Quick Facts.” The Center reports that rural Pennsylvania’s population declined approximately 2 percent from 2010 to 2020 while urban Pennsylvania’s population increased approximately 2 percent; 2023 rural per-capita personal income was $56,478 compared with $73,309 in urban Pennsylvania. (Center for Rural Pennsylvania)
11. Center for Rural Pennsylvania, “Rural Quick Facts.” The Center reports that nearly 3.37 million people, or approximately 26 percent of Pennsylvania’s 13.0 million residents, lived in the Commonwealth’s 48 rural counties in 2023. (Center for Rural Pennsylvania)
12. Center for Rural Pennsylvania, “Rural Quick Facts.” The Center reports that in 2022 rural counties had one primary care physician per 1,395 residents compared with one per 788 residents in urban counties, and that in 2023 ten rural counties had no general acute-care hospital. (Center for Rural Pennsylvania)
13. Pennsylvania Broadband Development Authority, Connected and Empowered: A Digital Equity Plan for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The plan identifies broadband access as important to education, healthcare, employment, economic opportunity and access to services, and identifies affordability and infrastructure access as fundamental barriers to digital equity. (Broadband Pennsylvania)

Primary testimony source

Jody Rainey, “Broadband is Critical for Education and Public Safety in Rural Pennsylvania,” testimony submitted August 18, 2026, Pennsylvania House Communications & Technology Committee. Rainey identifies himself as principal of Homer-Center Junior/Senior High School and fire chief of the Cherryhill Township Volunteer Fire Company.