The Grays Harbor PUD recently secured a grant from the State Broadband Office to extend our fiber network to communities south of Elma, including the South Bank Rd. to Cedarville and surrounding area and the Porter Valley. When finished, this project should provide the people in those areas access to much better internet access, and I was very pleased to join my fellow commissioners in approving the acceptance of that grant.
Before the COVID shutdown in March of 2020, the PUD was approached about extending our fiber optic line to these areas. Community meetings revealed stories of residents having to drive into Elma just to check email. During the shutdown, schoolwork, online appointments, and meetings could not be held at underserved homes, forcing residents to drive to mobile hotspots or to public Wi-Fi access points. Given these issues, both the state and federal governments have made funds more readily available for telecom expansion. As the representative for the most rural parts of our county, I’ve received multiple customer inquiries regarding these service gaps and when the PUD might be getting fiber optic lines out to other areas. Because the cost can total millions of dollars, the PUD has taken a conservative approach to adding more fiber optic lines. However, with grant money from the state, we are finally able to push into underserved or unserved areas of the county. In addition to expanding on State Route 12, the PUD is utilizing state funds to learn more about the cost of expanding service to the Wishkah, Satsop and Wynoochee River Valleys, and has been collaborating with Mason County PUD #3 to connect their fiber optic lines into areas along the Mason-Grays Harbor County lines, resulting in potential improvements in service and providing redundancy to underserved areas.
This all reminds me of why PUDs were formed. In the 1930’s, electricity was a luxury only for people that lived in the towns and cities as it was not cost effective to run power lines out to the rural areas. When PUDs were formed, all that changed and gradually a mindset took hold that everyone should have electricity in their homes no matter where you lived. Over 80 years later, the same story is being told for high-speed internet. It has become an essential service, and public utilities like the PUD are making smart choices to help bring that service to our customers. I am so proud of the PUD Telecommunications Department. They are constantly researching grant opportunities, looking for the ones that make the best sense for the utility. The State Route 12 project shows that when the right grant is found, our team can make great things happen.
by Arie Callaghan, District One Commissioner