Lake Wenatchee's south shore worries of life without PUD fiber

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Lake Wenatchee's south shore worries of life without PUD fiber

Thursday, January 17, 2013

LAKE WENATCHEE — Mother Nature has obliterated a fiber-optic cable that supplied enviably fast Internet, telephone and cable TV service to this forest lake’s south shore, leaving homeowners with no comparable alternatives.

Now most are reeling from the news that the Chelan County PUD may not rebuild the line but replace it with a far slower and less versatile — but cheaper — wireless network.

Quick facts about Lake Wenatchee south-shore fiber

When was the south shore fiber line installed?

August 2008 at a cost of $300,000.

Why can’t they just fix it?

The fiber cable contains 144 strands of glass fiber. Each strand in use carries data for Internet, telephone and cable TV service. When a cable breaks, each of these strands must be repaired individually. Each fix, called a “splice,” may restore service only to a few customers. Fiber splices take far longer than electric wire splices. When a fiber cable has many breaks, replacement is the fastest, cheapest option, PUD officials say.

Why is the south shore fiber line so expensive to fix at Lake Wenatchee?

Replacement costs are higher than new installation costs because they involve removing damaged fiber equipment from poles before new equipment can be installed.

Doesn’t the PUD have insurance?

The PUD has insurance to cover property damage, but its deductible is $1 million, officials say.

Why not bury fiber in the ground?

PUD officials say burying fiber would increase its installation costs six- to 10-fold.

Why is the PUD “take rate” of 26 percent along the lake’s south shore so much lower than LocalTel’s 50+ percent?

The PUD figure is calculated on 244 total area addresses, which include vacant lots. The LocalTel figure is calculated on a base of 157 actual area homes, about 80 of which take fiber service.

Does the PUD have a legal obligation to rebuild the line?

PUD lead attorney Carol Wardell says no. The utility’s service contract doesn’t require it to rebuild or reimburse for lost revenue “in connection with any failure or deficiency of the District’s System caused by or associated with: Circumstances beyond the District’s reasonable control...”

Lack of legal obligation doesn’t necessarily mean the PUD won’t rebuild the line, Wardell said.

Source: Chelan County PUD

“A lot of people up here think that we’ve been thrown under the bus,” says longtime resident George Wilson, one of many south-shore residents who lobbied for years to get the PUD to put the fiber in. “I’ve never, ever seen a utility just walk away from an established, essential service. Wireless is a huge step backward.”

The PUD paid about $300,000 to install the fiber line in August 2008 as part of a $120 million county-wide network that reaches about 70 percent of all county residents, but has never generated enough revenue to pay its own bills or cover its build-out costs.

A series of ice and snow storms hit the heavily forested region in mid December, sending hundreds of snow-laden trees falling into power and fiber lines.

PUD officials say fiber around the lake’s north shore is fixable, but the south-shore line is destroyed.

The damaged south-shore fiber line stretches about 5.5 miles northwest of Lake Wenatchee State Park. It will cost an estimated $500,000 to $750,000, to fix, depending on the time of year they do the work. This compares to $175,000 to $225,000 for wireless, Mike Coleman, the PUD’s managing director of fiber and telecommunications, has said.

Officials from LocalTel Communications, the company that sells Internet, phone and TV services over Chelan County PUD fiber, say 157 homes on the lake’s south shore are equipped to receive fiber services. Of those about 80 actually take the service, bringing the company’s “take rate” up to more than 50 percent.

This take rate is comparable to far more densely populated areas the company serves elsewhere in Chelan County.

But only about seven homes are occupied year-round on the lake’s south shore, PUD officials say. The rest are second homes, occupied part of the week or year.

The line also supplied Camp Zanika, a recreation area sponsored by Camp Fire USA. The camp hosted more than 1,200 visitors last year, including Camp Fire, youth groups and work groups.

South shore residents, full and part time, say they’ve built their lives around fiber in the four years it’s been available.

They’ve upgraded their homes, set up offices to operate businesses and invested in fiber-dependent security systems.

Wireless isn’t fast enough to support phone service, considered vital by many for its access to 911 emergency dispatch. Nor will it support cable TV.

Some homeowners, like Dr. Stu Freed, medical director at Wenatchee Valley Medical Center, said wireless may be OK for him at his lake house.

Most others say fiber would hard for them to do without.

“We changed the whole way we do registration based on the fiber,” Theresa Samuelsen, Camp Fire director said Tuesday. “We tried wireless, but it wouldn’t work because of all of our trees.”

“I can understand where the PUD is coming from,” said Don Bottoms, another of the lake’s full-time residents. “They spent a lot of money to put it in, and it disappeared on us overnight, practically. It would be one thing if the system had never existed and we hadn’t done anything with our properties based on having fiber capability.”

He added, “You go back to why PUDs are established nationwide and it’s to serve the underserved areas.”

Bob Hooson runs an employment recruiting businesses from May to October from his Lake Wenatchee home. He spends winters working in California.

“I’m on the Internet all day,” he said. “Our business requires pulling a lot of resumes down off the Internet and communicating with a lot of people at once. I’d be dead in the water without it. We have built our business based on the fact that we have fiber technology available to us. Wireless is not fast enough.”

“I just hope they make it right,” says Dr. Gary Bell, a Seattle dentist with strong Wenatchee ties who does contract forensic work over the Internet from his lake home. “When fiber came in... we spent $500,000 to upgrade our home. “I’ve never heard of the PUD coming in, giving service and then taking it away. It totally changes our life here. I think we deserve the services as much as anyone. We’re ratepayers, too.”

The PUD netted a $75 million budget surplus last year, the largest in many years. But utility executives say they’re committed to a new policy based on most customers’ wishes that fiber and all other PUD services pay their own way with their own revenues. That policy includes strict cost caps for fiber.

Even though lake long timers qualify the season’s snow storm as the worst they’ve ever seen, PUD officials fear they could lose the line again in a few years, if they pay to replace it.

Carnan Bergren

Chelan County PUD commissioner

PUD Commission President Carnan Bergren said Tuesday that he still hasn’t made up his mind about what’s right for the south shore — and wouldn’t until PUD staffers further study fiber costs, make a recommendation to the board and further consult the public. More public discussion is expected in the next couple of weeks.

“Pulling from our reserves is not in our business model,” Bergren said. “Each service has to pay for itself. “Do we all pay it through our fiber bills? Do we specifically charge a certain area? The fiber system should have to pay for that repair one way or another.”

Christine Pratt: 665-1173

pratt@wenatcheeworld.com

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FamilyMan8 4 months ago

I am concerned that the focus of these recent PUD fiber connection articles are being limited to only looking at the impact that this is having to the county residents in the Lake Wenatchee area. I have been following the PUD's stance on the fiber program for the past year, and it is obvious that there is regret on their part for ever going down the "fiber road" due financial and related issues. In March 2012 they talked about selling the whole system or stopping expansion all together! I think all residents/businesses of Chelan County who are serviced by PUD fiber, or hope to be in the future, should take an interest in these proceedings. It is my belief that the PUD is using this natural disaster as a way to shrink the scope and service of the fiber program in the more rural parts of our county to "better the bottom line." Furthermore, I believe they feel that because this LW area may have a higher percentage of part time residents (who pay the same utility rates/property taxes we all do) the PUD feels they can sway the opinion of other county residents to agree with their position that in "this case" it might be appropriate to withdraw services to these property owners. THIS IS A DANGEROUS PRECEDENT! If the PUD is allowed to remove essential services like this to one select population of the county, (again I believe with primary motives other than what they are stating publicly), they have established a precedent that likely will be applied when a similar situation arises in another part of the county. What will it be next time? Damage to a neighborhood line in Manson?Damage to a connection in Eagle Rock, Broadview, rural Plain or the North Shore of Lake Wenatchee? Other system damage is almost certain to occur in another area of the county. If we ratepayers allow the PUD to begin to dismantle the fiber system that is already in place under the guise of saving us from having to use a small fraction of our existing surplus funds (rates would not have to increase to cover the LW line rebuilding) for "someone else's problem", then we are saying we expect that should a disaster with similar damage occur to our services, that we are completely OK with the PUD turning its back on us as well. Now they will have a historical, if not legal, precedent to go by. Let's not this happen!!! If my neighborhood suffered a natural disaster, I would want the PUD to make the repairs to restore the service that I already had, just as I expect them to restore services to another part of the county that suffered. The residents of the Lake Wenatchee area did not cause this problem, it was not due to their negligence, it was a natural disaster! As residents, PUD ratepayers and voters we should stand together in demanding the PUD doing the right thing by making the repairs to the damaged areas, just as we would expect them to do the right thing should something similar happen in our own neighborhood. Let your PUD and PUD Commissioners know how you feel Chelan County!

anniegirl 4 months ago

I've also been following the fiber discussions as we built our home in Navarre Coulee in 2008 and installed conduit for fiber that was given to us by the PUD for the promised build out that would reach us within two years of that time. As we all know, that build out didn't happen then, and last year they stopped expansion all together. We were not given any alternative option by the PUD, such as the wireless option for the South Shore residents. We would LOVE to have wireless as an option rather than the incredibly slow satellite service we pay a very high premium for. I have a business that requires internet access and we agreed to purchase this property and build here because of the promise of fiber by the PUD. We did our homework. So we know what it's like to build and put in upgrades for that purpose--this is our full-time home. Satellite is not "fast enough" for much of what I need to do...it's not even fast enough to Skype. We would be overjoyed with wireless as an option as it would allow me to do more of my work from my home office.

That being said, part of the reason the build out was cancelled had to do with not only the cost of the build out but also the extremely high costs of maintaining and repairing the lines. They were also concerned about investing more into what may soon become an obsolete means of data transfer.

FamilyMan, you are correct in that the line loss was no fault of the residents, but it was also no fault of the PUD. And you seem to be equating the necessity of fiber to that of electricity. They are not one and the same. And the PUD is NOT saying they will not restore INTERNET capability to the South Shore.

Those of us that are in still un-served areas of the county recognize that fiber is a luxury for those of us who chose to live, work, or spend our vacations in remote or difficult to reach locations. I didn't realize personally that 125 feet from a state highway was a "remote" location, but in the world of fiber, apparently it is.

As I said in a previous post when this issue first came out...offering wireless to those of us who were denied fiber with the decision to end expansion would result in many happy ratepayers. Offering the same thing to those in LW is resulting in nothing but complaints. Guess it all comes down to what side of the fence you get to sit on.

ReiMiraa 4 months ago

no sympathy... blewett pass doesn't get fiber, when promised, why should you living so far away get it?

right i forgot there are Microsoft employees that live up there.

Rovingarcher 4 months ago

As for the individual who spent half a million remodeling his place for his office because he had hi-speed.If it were me, I'd just cut the PUD a check and use it for a write-off.As for part time paying the same rates as full time residents...Many are rented our when not in use by the owners, and as far as the real part time residents,if our CHEAP PUD rates are too much to bear, I'd move to Seattle and pay 8 cents per KW.

lonedog3 4 months ago

Living in the scenic wilderness does and should have it's downfalls. Want high speed? buy it--pay the PUD to put in the high speed to your remote get away. Why should all of the rete payers continue to foot your bills?

FamilyMan8 4 months ago

I get everyone's perspective, but correct me if I'm wrong but I think you're doing what the PUD hopes and wants you to do, which is pit personal greviences or dissatisfaction with the PUD or "out of towners" against other residents to let the PUD do whatever they want. This issue isn't as much about "what they have" and "what I have", it's about the PUD stepping up for all residents and providing the services they promised, and continuing to provide those services they've established to the county. "Anniegirl" you are right, it's not fair that some residents have access to any type of higher speed internet and others don't, but by not supporting the notion that the PUD needs to stand by their committment in the Western county, why should they stand by their committment to you up North? They should, and "ReiMiraa" you have the same issue, "I got screwed over", or "I haven't been given the services I was promised, so let's screw them over as well, tell them to quit whining!" Exactly what the PUD wants, we'll take it away here because the others we broke promises to will support someone else getting the shaft, but then we can keep breaking promises, keep denying services, keep taking away services as we please and let the residents target each other and NOT THE PUD! "Anniegirl" by the way I know something is better than nothing, but the proposed speeds that I've seen from the PUD wireless I believe are in the 1,000kbps range and I don't think that's much better that what you're probably getting from satellite, but I'm not an expert. And you're right, offering wireless to the LW residents is resulting in nothing but complaints, but remember this is a take away issue, not a no service issue, as in your case. Imagine the PUD did give you wireless service now, you built up your business using it, but then 3 or 4 years later the PUD decides to take that away because you could still get satellite, how would that go over? Would you want the rest of the county to support you getting that back, or would you be OK with ReiMiraa telling you to quit whining because the PUD still hasn't fulfilled their promise to her? I just think this should be an issue for all residents/ratepayers to support each other and let the PUD know how we feel, that yes something should be done for Anniegirl, and yes something should be done for ReiMiraa. Rovingarcher, you lost me dude, but I agree we should be grateful for our low electric rates, but fulfilling the needs/promises of internet services should not be seen as incompatible with low electric rates. They PUD may just want you to believe that they are!

lonedog3 4 months ago

Simply put--It, fiber, became to expensive with cost over runs, mismanagement poor leadership, poor economy etc. so the PUD had to drop this albatross from their plans. Sometimes in business that happens especially when a business, the PUD, is getting involved with something they never should have. Whining and crying about broken promises will not help now as the program is done. No more new lines the program is broke. I do hear that great strides have been made in satellite internet but then that's out as you would have to pay for that yourself.

hardrow 4 months ago

Welcome to the no-fiber club. I own a business in Manson...no fiber, and a home in Echo Valley Chelan...no fiber. The PUD grabbed the low hanging fruit during the build out and left the rest of us to dangle.

Rovingarcher 4 months ago

I didn't mean to lose you family man.I guess, the bottom line being, you guys were darn lucky in the beginning.Why? Because the noisy wheel got greased.Half the county wasn't so lucky.Got to the point, after frontier took over, I could no longer pay my bills on line, unless i had half a day to spend waiting for up loads.Now,because of no fault of the PUD, you guys are without high speed, and the PUD has said it will cost too much to repair.I for one am tired of picking up pieces of poor judgement by the PUD on my power bill because they over spent.This time, if they say they can't honestly afford it, I hope for the good of several thousand folks...they just drop the idea.

anniegirl 4 months ago

FamilyMan, I understand your point and I see your frustration. I think perhaps you missed my point that the build-out that would have resulted in us having fiber was stopped because of the costs associated with the entire fiber program (which is essentially underwater), and is a technology that is likely to become obsolete in the near future. It didn't make sense to them to put more money into an "asset" that was worth less than they owed on it. I don't like it, it seems unfair when we subsidize those who have it, but in a country that spends first and then thinks about how to pay for it later, I have to respect that the PUD does exercise some fiscal responsibility.

That being said, I would still sign up for fiber OR wireless if they offered it to us! A speed of 1000 kpbs sure beats the 81 kpbs I have tonight via satellite. Wireless may be slow, but it's still 10 times faster than what we have right now...