Information Charlottesville

This afternoon, Louisa officials pledged to make broadband Internet available to every home and business in the county within the next four years. Christian Goodwin is the county administrator who spoke on a live YouTube feed that he acknowledged could not currently be accessed by all who live in Louisa. 

“Today I am pleased to announce that we are unveiling plans to change that here in Louisa County and that we are developing a blueprint that other localities and providers can follow,” Goodwin said. 

Louisa will invest $15 million in a partnership with Rappahannock Electric Cooperative, Firefly Fiber Broadband, and Dominion Energy Virginia. Firefly is a subsidiary of the Central Virginia Electric Cooperative. The funding will help cover constructions costs, and end consumers would pay between $50 and $80 a month for service depending on speed. 

The first step in the partnership will be an engineering study that will result in a request to the State Corporation Commission for regulatory approval for the service. The goal is to connect half the county by 2023 and full coverage by 2025.

Duane Adams is the vice chair of the Louisa County Board of Supervisors. 

“Today more than ever the digital divide between rural and suburban America has been brought to light by the COVID-19 pandemic,” Adams said. “The inability to access reliable high-speed Internet has impacted our citizens in nearly every area of their life, from education to tele-medicine to the ability to conduct business affairs in a secure environment.”

Adams said this would bring about a “generational change” for the county and will also be an economic development tool. Read more in the press release.