The Starkville Electric Department will be working all along Highway 182 today installing the first pieces of a city-wide fiber optic network — the first step toward providing customers with up-to-the-minute usage data.
The installation marks the beginning of the first of two phases that will ultimately result in a fiber optic cable loop winding from the SED operations center to the Sportsplex to Mississippi State University and back to the operations center.
The fiber optic network is part of a five-year, $5.5 million dollar project that will replace the existing overhead ground wire with the new cable and install more than 23,000 meters that will relay more data faster.
Starkville Electric General Manager Terry Kemp said the first phase, which will be pulling the cable from the operations center on Highway 182 to the Sportsplex, will be done by substation section and should take about six weeks. The work will not have an effect on electricity for the areas being serviced.
Kemp said the objective of the project is to be in a position to better control rates for customers, and to help the SED serve those customers more efficiently. Kemp also said the fiber optic network opens up several possibilities for the city beyond utility management.
“Our goal is to do this in such a way, that we don’t have to raise rates to do this. This is a process to help us a control the upward pressure on rates to minimize it as we go forward,” he said. “Once we install, it really puts us in position to add on. We look at this as part of an ongoing process from a city standpoint to build a platform to really take advantage of new technology.”
In January, the Dispatch reported one of these options could be a city-wide Wi-Fi network. Access points would be installed at the top of utility poles to provide public access in parks, recreation areas and downtown corridors.
Kemp said the costs of implementing the Wi-Fi network would be left to the city.
The 23,000 meters are part of the city’s new Automatic Meter Infrastructure (AMI) system, which is still in the works, Kemp said. The AMI enables two-way communication with the meter, giving customers and the SED a more comprehensive look at usage. The fiber optic network will relay this data faster than other methods.
“We will be moving in that direction hopefully by the end of this year,” he said. “Of course on the AMI system will include water usage, too. It’s kind of a joint effort on the utility side.”
Though the new technological additions make the SED much more efficient and seemingly more automated, Kemp said the project will not cost the SED any jobs, and will likely create some.
“We are not seeing a reduction in staff at all,” he said. “We are actually seeing additional skill sets that will be required.”
The Dispatch Editorial Board is made up of publisher Peter Imes, columnist Slim Smith, managing editor Zack Plair and senior newsroom staff.
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