Appalachian Power, Wheeling Power seek approval of $61M broadband expansion project

Published on January 22, 2021 by Kim Riley

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Virginia-based Appalachian Power Co. and Wheeling Power Co., a West Virginia-based subsidiary of American Electric Power, on Jan. 20 submitted an application for a middle-mile broadband infrastructure expansion project and associated cost recovery in West Virginia.

“With utility poles already in place near homes and businesses, even in the most rugged and mountainous areas, we are well-positioned to help expand broadband access in rural parts of our service area,” said Chris Beam, Appalachian Power president and chief operating officer, in a statement. “The expansion of fiber also provides a robust communications platform for electric grid enhancements that improve energy efficiency and service reliability.”

Specifically, the companies seek approval of their project in Appalachian Power’s service territory in the adjacent West Virginia counties of Logan and Mingo, according to their application filed with the Public Service Commission (PSC) of West Virginia (Case No. 21-0032-E-IMM). 

The companies also seek cost recovery for the estimated $61.3 million investment, including installing 430 miles of middle-mile fiber optic cable infrastructure needed to expand high-speed broadband access, according to their 155-page filing with the PSC.

The filing follows legislation passed in 2019 by West Virginia lawmakers allowing electric utilities to submit broadband feasibility studies. That year, the West Virginia Broadband Enhancement Council unanimously approved Appalachian Power’s feasibility study for the Logan and Mingo project, and subsequent legislation approved in 2020 then specified the PSC’s role in approving plans and associated cost recovery of middle-mile broadband projects submitted by electric public utilities in West Virginia.

The project plan calls for internet service provider (ISP) GigaBeam Networks of Bluefield, Va., to own, install and operate the last-mile infrastructure needed to deliver broadband services to customers in the project area. GigaBeam will have access to the middle-mile facilities in phases as construction progresses. According to the companies’ filing, the phased-in approach will allow the ISP to coordinate its equipment installations with middle-mile construction and connect new broadband service customers on a rolling basis throughout the construction process.

“With the proposed project, APCo [Appalachian Power] proposes to construct fiber optic cable on its electric distribution grid in the [two] counties to facilitate the expansion of broadband access, and to then lease some of that capacity to one or more last-mile broadband service providers and other third parties,” according to testimony provided in the filing by Brad Hall, vice president of external affairs for APCo.

According to Hall, Logan and Mingo counties were chosen based on 2019 data from the Federal Communications Commission showing that the percentage of 25/3 Mbps or greater broadband coverage in Mingo County and Logan County is only 63 percent and 67 percent, respectively, which ranks as relatively low coverage compared with similar rural counties in West Virginia. Both of the counties also are designated by the Appalachian Regional Commission as distressed counties affected by the decline of the coal industry, he said.  

In addition to providing middle-mile fiber infrastructure needed to extend broadband Internet service to these unserved areas, the project’s route also would provide a robust communications platform for APCo’s own distribution grid network backhaul requirements, including Advanced Metering Infrastructure and Distribution Automation/Circuit Reconfiguration, which are two grid modernization initiatives that APCo has planned for its West Virginia service territory, according to testimony in the filing by Kenneth L. Perdew, Jr., American Electric Power’s director of broadband communications.

If approved by the West Virginia PSC, the first-year project costs will add 15 cents a month to the bill of the companies’ West Virginia residential customers using 1,000 kWh/month, according to the filing, which says project construction is expected to begin within 180 days after PSC approval and will be completed within roughly 24 months after the start of construction.