The Greeneville Energy Authority learned late Tuesday afternoon the authority has moved a step closer to additional funding to assist in county wide funding for fiber optic broadband.
BEAD GRANTS
As the GEA board met Tuesday morning, they were awaiting word from the state on the outcome of BEAD Grant recommendations. The announcement came later in the afternoon and based on a called meeting later this week, it appears GEA has at least cleared the state hurdle. A called meeting of the board is scheduled for this Friday, August 29th at 11 am for action to accept BEAD Grant Funding if selected in the final proposal. The final word on grants will come from the federal level.
BROADBAND
In the absence of GEA Broadband Director Phil Bradley, Wells updated the board on the latest broadband numbers. With residential broadband revenue reaching over $100,000 for the first time ever, work continues toward reaching some of the outlying areas, including GEA West. Overall, GEA Broadband has 1884 active internet users, equating to a 14.3 take rate to date.
LOTS OF NUMBERS TO DISCUSS
Although the Greeneville Energy Authority had a more limited than usual agenda to work through during their August meeting at the GEA building Tuesday, there were plenty of numbers to discuss.
CUSTOMERS
During the financial report, Director of Accounting and Finance Paige Mengel reported there has been an increase of 333 residential customers over the past year. Operations Manager Robert Keller reported the utility was up 161 overall customers from June to July of this year. President and CEO Dwayne Wells also reported the 41,115 overall customers is believed to be an all-time high for the local utility.
DID YOU KNOW
Dwayne Wells delivered the monthly update on the community help contributions through the food bank. The most recent monthly contribution from customers totaled $13,489.69 for the month. 20% of that total is then sent to the Greene County Wood Ministry for their efforts.
NEXT MEETING
Following the called meeting Friday, the next regular meeting of the GEA Board will be September 30th at 9 am at the GEA building. The meeting will be a week later than normal as several normally in attendance will be at the NISC gathering in Louisville on September 23rd.
