Beginning April 11, private contractors will start field engineering work in the Petoskey service district (see map below) for the fiber internet pilot project.
They will have Great Lakes Energy signs on their trucks, reflective vests and identification. They will hand out these information cards to anyone they meet who has questions about the project.
Field engineers should be finished with their work by sometime this fall.
They will follow a Monday through Saturday work schedule. Sunday work is not expected other than if required to maintain scheduled completion.
Up to eight workers in crews of two will be employed for the field engineering phase.
This fiber-to-the-home pilot project will help us determine the feasibility of offering the service throughout our service area. The two main reasons we are starting this pilot are:
1) Access to a fiber data system will help our engineers and operations teams monitor and maintain our electric system more accurately, respond to outages faster, and plan for system upgrades in an effective manner.
2) Our members have told us there is a need for better internet in our service area to improve the quality of life. Many people in rural Michigan don’t have access to a dependable, fast internet connection which can impact the ability to do basic things on the internet as well as work from home, stream video/audio, expand businesses and more. We strive to offer reliable energy, comfort and communications solutions to enhance our members’ quality of life. Access to high-speed (true broadband) internet is a solution that builds on our past successes in delivering reliable electricity with outstanding service to our members.
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