Bristol Virginia Utilities Update for 2009
Bristol Virginia has been ranked as one of the top seven "intelligent" communities in 2009. To quote www.intelligentcommunity.org:Bristol is located in a rural, low-income region whose traditional products - tobacco and coal - are in major decline. Starting in 1998, Bristol fought incumbent telcos in court and the state legislature to win the right to deploy a fiber network called OptiNet. It was conceived as a backbone serving government and schools but grew into a fiber-to-the-premises network for business and residents in Bristol and four neighboring counties. With a 62% market share, OptiNet has saved its customers an estimated $10 million. It has also attracted more than $50 million in private investment, including the region's first technology employers, and improved rural education and healthcare by connecting local providers to leading institutions.Links:
www.bvu-optinet.com
www.cppdc.com
BVU could be getting another $3.9 million dollars from the Virginia Tobacco Commission. The hope to construct a 49-mile expansion at a total cost of $3.9 million. Most of the lines will be run in Washington and Smith Counties. This is also being used to install a backup system for "redundancy" of data for customers. To quote Stacy Bright BVU executive vice president and chief financial officer, "This would allow us to provide redundant [fiber-optic] routes for all our customers, but especially Northrop Grumman and CGI-AMS. This would assure them of no down time and - in a data-driven world - without a backup they don't work."
Now I've met Stacy and she is fine person, but Northrop Grumman and CGI-AMS, located in Russell County not because of BVU. Northrop Grumman and CGI-AMS located in Russell County because the lucrative state contract they managed to get from the State of Virginia required them to. In fact after spending perhaps $100 million on fiber optic in Southwest Virginia BVU has failed to produce a single private sector job they can document. See Cable Ready Socialism Main Page. Ref. BHC September 29, 2009
As a final note announced October 1 electric rates might be coming down for Bristol BVU customers because of a rate drop at TVA. This drop in TVA's fuel surcharge (due to higher rainfall of over 3 inches above average) will offset an average 8 percent increase in its base electric rates. A residential customer using 1,000 kilowatt-hours of electricity a month, the base rate change represents a $5.52 average increase. The fuel cost equals about $7.36 in savings, resulting in an average net savings of about $1.84 a month, according to TVA. The cost of 1,000 kilowatt-hours is $80.49.
As for Southwest Virginia customers of Appalachian Power, you just lost out. The Virginia State Corporation Commission in August allowed 7.7 percent increase in fuel adjustment costs. For 1,000 kilowatt-hours one can expect to pay about $7.16 more a month under the new rate. AEP is a private company while TVA is government owned and has far more hydropower generation than Appalachian Power. AEP is seeking another 14.5 percent increase due to environmental regulations that will add another $15 per 1000 kilowatt hours.
- Bristol, Virginia Utilities and "Cable Ready" Socialism
- City owned utility: citizens will "starve to death"
- Social Apartheid and the (BVU) Scholarship Program
- Nepotism at Bristol Virginia Utilities
- Fiber Optic at Bristol Virginia Utilities in 2007-8
- Posted February 2010
- More Fighting Over Bristol Virginia Utilities
- BVU Sold Near-Record Amount of Electricity, Public Makes Crucial Mistake
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