Jackson County REMC will use a $74 million loan from the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture to finance a project to provide high-speed broadband service to its customers.
The project, announced in June 2017, involves installing fiber optics line on existing utility poles and then to the homes of its 20,000+ customers. The work has a $59,331,071 price tag.
The remainder of the USDA Rural Development electric loan, announced Tuesday, will be used to build 60 miles of electrical line, improve 10 miles of existing electrical line and make other system improvements, said Matt Persinger, the utility’s technology manager.
Construction of the smart grid project, operating as Jackson Connect, started in October 2017 and won’t be completed for about 5 years.
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