Public meetings set on PUD fiber options

EPHRATA — The Grant County PUD will hold two public meetings to discuss the future of its fiber optic network in late April. The first is scheduled for 2 p.m. April 25 at the PUD commission meeting room, 30 Southwest C St. in Ephrata. The second will be at 6 p.m. April 27 at the George Community Hall, 403 West Montmorency Blvd., George.

“Why George, and who chose George?” asked commissioner Dale Walker.

“George was selected because it’s kind of central to the large area that doesn’t have fiber right now,” said public information officer Chuck Allen. It’s the largest incorporated town in Grant County that doesn’t have fiber, Allen said.

The PUD is also planning to ask customers what they think about fiber and the fiber build-out through a telephone survey, and a survey will be posted on the PUD website, Allen said.

Utility district officials are working on an extensive review of the fiber system, at the request of PUD commissioners. Commissioners asked for an estimate of the cost of the fiber project and if the wireless program was meeting its goals. Commissioners wanted the information before making decisions on the fiber program’s future.

Utility district officials commissioned a study from an outside consultant. The results showed the fiber network has reached about 70 percent of the county, but that extending the service to the remaining 30 percent will be more expensive due to the distances involved.

By state law the PUD can’t sell fiber access directly to customers; it sells to internet service providers (ISP) who in turn serve retail customers. Chief financial officer John Janney said the rate charged to ISPs will be increased by $3 per month.

Utility district officials did a “rate impact analysis” to determine if, or how, continuing the fiber buildout would impact the PUD’s overall finances, and what the impact on electric rates would be as a result. Janney said the analysis looked at the system with a lot of users, with a few users, and an option in between.

Depending on the different criteria used, electrical rates would have to be raised by an estimated 2.7 percent to 4.6 percent, Janney said. “Is that a one-time thing? Or is that an annual thing?” commissioner Larry Schaapman asked of the impact on rates. Janney said the idea is to generate a specific amount of money for the fiber program during the period analyzed, which was 30 years. So the rate increase, whatever it is, would be part of the rates for at least the 30 years analyzed in the study.

In answer to a question from Walker, Janney said the conclusions were based on what it would take to generate that specific amount over the 30 years being analyzed.

Janney said the current buildout plan might not reach all PUD customers, depending on their location and how much it would cost the PUD to extend the service. He asked commissioners to think about what the PUD should do in the case of customers in remote locations. “Is there a cutoff point where it’s too far, too much?” he asked.

The wireless program was also analyzed, and with the current technology it would be more expensive to maintain the wireless system than to continue to build the fiber network, Janney said.

Cheryl Schweizer can be reached via email at education@columbiabasinherald.com.