The Lewis County Public Utility District (PUD) has received an $11,958,421 grant from the Washington State Broadband Office (WSBO), according to a statement released by the Washington state Department of Commerce on Tuesday.
The grant money is for the installation of rural broadband to the Bunker Creek service zones in the Adna area. According to the Lewis County PUD, the project will serve 1,714 residential and 203 commercial customers in “broadband unserved” areas of west Lewis County.
According to PUD General Manager David Plotz, the grant seeks to bring high-speed internet to rural communities.
“(The grant) is part of a general push by the federal and state governments,” Plotz told The Chronicle.
According to Plotz, expanding rural broadband is a priority of the Lewis County PUD.
“We are excited to receive the Bunker Creek area grant, an important part of Lewis County PUD's promise to bring high-speed internet to underserved communities in Lewis County and delivering on our board’s vision,” Plotz said.
The Bunker Creek project will include 108 miles of new fiber optic cable through a mixture of underground and overhead fiber optic and electronic equipment west of Chehalis along state Route 6. The fiber optic cable will extend north and south across state Route 6 near Ceres Hill and Crego Hill.
“The high costs of deploying broadband infrastructure have made it difficult for internet service providers to offer reliable and affordable broadband internet to rural areas,” said Chris Walker, Northwest Open Access Network’s (NoaNet) director of infrastructure strategy. “However, through these broadband funding grants and the leadership provided by Lewis County PUD we are addressing these issues and solving real problems.”
The Bunker Creek project network, when completed, will offer up to 10 gigabits-per-second for residents and businesses needing high-speed internet. Upload and download speeds will be the same, too.
Construction is expected to begin during the late summer of 2024. According to Willie Painter, the PUD Broadband and External Funding Manager, the project is projected to be completed during the summer of 2026.
For more information on this project, contact Painter at williep@lcpud.org.
