Jefferson North New Years Update
Happy New Year! Construction is underway in multiple zones in our project area. We've got fiber built to the outside of many homes in Woodland Hills and along Discovery Bay. Work will start along inner Cape George Rd this week or next. Work around Hastings and Jacob Miller should begin in February. See map below.
Work on Marrowstone will begin again in the coming weeks and start on the north end of the island. Our contract crews will work on underground fiber in the rights of ways along side streets as from the street to the outside of the home.
Along Flagler Rd, we've changed plans. Cost projections for burying the electric conduit alongside fiber kept climbing. After some review, we made the decision not to dig and instead to run the fiber overhead on the power poles. Accordingly, we will begin tree trimming along Flagler Rd as soon as crews are available, with aerial construction to follow.
Wondering when will we start connecting you to the internet? Generally, it follows the order of construction, with Woodland Hills and Discovery Bay going first, likely in March. Cape George and Hastings will follow.
The areas around Jacob Miller and Marrowstone will take a little longer. Not just because construction started later, but because we have to add additional network cabinets to serve these areas. The other areas can be connected by existing facilities. The cabinets serving Jacob Miller and Marrowstone will be built later this spring, and we anticipate everyone will be connected to the internet by end of July. Many sooner.
A couple of things to understand about the construction process:
While contract construction crews call in locates for buried utilities, these locates do not cover privately installed underground wires or pipes. Our engineers try their best to map out any underground lines you might know about during the site survey, but additional lines are frequently discovered. Or discovered in a different location. Discovery is unfortunately often paired with damage.
While some damage is unavoidable, please know that the contractor will work to repair the damage immediately upon discovery. Some repairs can be resolved quickly, others may require time for other specially licensed contractors to be brought in.
Similarly, any gravel roads that are dug up or damaged during underground fiber construction will be repaired by the contractor upon completion of work. In some cases, final regrading work on gravel roads may not happen until after the rainy season is over.
In either case, the contractor doing the digging will be responsible for repairing the damage, not the PUD. However, if you need assistance, we can help. But please do not engage your own contractor to do the work.
About our Internet Service Options:
Broadband internet from the PUD means you can both pick your PROVIDER and your PACKAGE. For providers, you can choose between the PUD or one of our QUALIFIED ISPS. To view packages from the Qualified ISPs, please contact them directly.
Packages from the PUD start at 150/150 Mbps for $65/mo. Have a need for more speed? We also offer symmetrical gig-speed for $75 or 3 Gigs for $100/mo. If you qualify for our low-income electric discount, monthly internet is only $30/mo. We also have WiFi mesh options and the JPUD Connect app that allows you to set up parental controls and a whole home network firewall.
Note: We aren't accepting package requests right now. As each area nears construction completion, we’ll send an online link for you to make your selection via SmartHub, the PUD’s online billing system. Once your selection is made and our customer service team has processed it, you'll get a final email that allows you to pick a time to have our network staff come inside your home to complete the connection. Again, if you choose one of our Qualified ISPs, they'll handle both package submission and scheduling the install.