PUD numbers favor updating fiber plan

A more cost-conscious plan for Chelan County PUD fiber-optics could be the best financial option for the utility, but it would mean that currently unserved county residents who desperately want fiber would have to wait years to get it.

In the first of four community meetings this week, PUD officials Monday revealed their initial alternatives for fixing the fiber service, which lost $8 million last year because revenues currently don't cover costs.

The alternatives are:

•Sell the network.
•Keep the network but improving its business model.
•Raise electric rates to finance the network's continued expansion to the most expensive-to-serve residents.
About 30 members of the public, many from areas in the county that aren't currently served by fiber, attended Monday's meeting.

Many said they'd be willing to pay extra for hookups. Others called for the network's actual revenues to determine the rate of the buildout. Still others called for some electric-rate increases to help speed the buildout to unserved areas.

Commissioners will vote on a future plan for fiber next month, after PUD staff makes a final proposal.

March 20, 2012

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