On January 20, 2020, Harrison Rural Electric was awarded an $18,749,940.00 grant by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA).

 

This grant was awarded to Harrison Rural Electrification Association, Inc. (HREA) from an application for a 100 percent grant that HREA made to the USDA ReConnect Program in 2019 for a proposed $25,000,000.00 project to construct a Fiber to the Home (FTTH) network utilizing HREA’s existing infrastructure to homes and businesses that lie within areas defined as unserved or underserved for broadband internet service. 

 

Broadband is defined by law a 10 Mbps download and 1Mbps upload speeds. The system has been designed to deliver speeds of 100 Mbps upload and 100 Mbps download as the base service, however more or less speed is readily available depending on the end consumer’s needs. 

 

HREA has “partnered” with Digital Connections Inc. (DCI) to provide ISP services to the consumer via their Prodigi FTTH product that delivers internet, telephone and television service.  DCI/Prodigi will be responsible for all in-home installations, service provision and billing.  DCI/Prodigi will also be able to expand service to non-HREA member service areas utilizing the HREA fiber backbone. 

 

The proposed project will involve parts of Harrison, Upshur, Barbour, Lewis and Doddridge counties.   Harrison Rural Electrification Association, Inc. serves 7,000 members in Harrison, Doddridge, Taylor, Marion, Lewis, Upshur, and Barbour Counties. HREA is a Touchstone Energy Cooperative. 

 

The announcement was made Monday at Liberty High School.