Answer: Broadband Internet (FCC defined as 25mbps download/3mbps upload) is critical for today's digital economy, educational resources, public safety, and more.

The state of Washington has established the State Broadband Office and set the goal of every home and business in the state having access to at least 150/150mbps broadband service by the year 2028.

The reason broadband deployment is increasingly considered an essential infrastructure is that in today's connected world, it is extremely difficult to fully engage in learning, working, conducting business, or accessing healthcare without the availability of high-speed Internet services. As the effort to get electricity out to all Americans was 100 years ago, high-speed Internet infrastructure is the critical infrastructure push of today.

Fiber-optic broadband infrastructure can support unlimited bandwidth use and has minimal signal degradation over long distances.

Copper wire loses about 94% of its bandwidth capacity over 100 meters, where fiber-optic line only loses about 3% over the same distance.

Broadband can also be delivered wirelessly. Wireless can be a good solution when wireline infrastructure is cost-prohibitive due to difficult geography or low building density. However, wireless infrastructure can be impacted by weather, trees, and other environmental factors.

Answer: Reliable high-speed digital infrastructure is often one component in economic growth and diversification within a community. It draws and sustains college students, clean & high-tech business, medical providers, and others who want to live rural yet still be connected to the world. Businesses can use broadband to expand their customer base, and save money through smart technology and energy management.

Everyone benefits from fiber. Large businesses need high-speed, point-to-point network connections for daily commercial traffic (payroll, bills of lading, purchase orders, automated library systems, medical information) and internet access. Fiber optics advance health care providers’ ability to share diagnostic and non-diagnostic images and confidential information with other physicians across the town, state, and nation. For instance, hospitals need fast, reliable, secure digital network connectivity to other medical providers. This allows the secure confidential transmission of large amounts of information such as x-rays, MRI, CT scans, medical and insurance records, which translates to better health care services for patients. Schools need interconnection to provide educational tools, research sharing, and distance learning opportunities. Agri-businesses can use broadband to monitor field conditions, water and electric usage and access market information. Increasingly, students need access to high-speed Internet to study from home, and adults need to have the flexibility to work remotely from their office.

Answer: In short, the PUD received information that residential and commercial customers within many parts of the PUD service territory were unsatisfied with their lack of internet speed and/or choices. Therefore, the PUD has worked to acquire grant funds to solve this problem. 

In early 2020, the PUD formed the Lewis County Broadband Action Team (BAT) and worked with the BAT to launch a community-wide broadband survey to get a better understanding of what Lewis County residents and businesses want and need in broadband service. The survey also included a speed test component, so the PUD could gain a better understanding of which communities were or were not being served with broadband access. The survey was taken by 3,673 respondents (about 10% of the PUD’s customer base), and showed that 77.2% of respondents did not have access to broadband. Many of these respondents also indicated that they believe broadband to be an essential utility like power and water.

The PUD will also be able to use a small portion of this infrastructure to support its electric system infrastructure.

Answer:  Although the 2020 Washington State Legislature provided public utility districts (like Lewis County PUD) and port districts the ability to provide broadband services directly to residential and commercial customers, Lewis County PUD’s current plans call for a public-private partnership with internet service providers (ISPs).

The PUD’s plan utilizes an open access network model that has proven to be successful in other areas around the state and country: The PUD would build the fiber-to-the-premises (aka “fiber-to-the-home”) infrastructure as a publicly-owned open access network, which means that the infrastructure would be available for private internet service providers to connect end-users. By leveraging the expertise of private providers to directly serve customer broadband needs in an open access model so that multiple providers have the opportunity to serve an area, the PUD believes that this creates healthy competition. And with competition comes customer options, typically lower prices, and better customer service by ISPs.

As infrastructure is built in your area, you will receive communications from the PUD on how to sign-up for service.

Answer: No. The PUD’s cost-based electric rates are derived primarily from the cost of wholesale power and the operation and maintenance of the electrical system.

The PUD’s telecommunications and electric services operate on a not-for-profit basis. The PUD is customer-owned, which means there are no shareholders for whom profits must be generated. The revenue the PUD receives from its customers is used to operate and maintain the infrastructure that provides service.