Fredericksburg, Va.—On Monday, May 20, Rappahannock Electric Cooperative (REC) reached another milestone in its mission to support brining high-speed internet to unserved and underserved communities.
Local and regional leaders gathered with REC at Lydia Mountain Lodge to celebrate the first 400 REC members in the county being connected to high-speed internet through the Cooperative’s efforts. The project is the result of a partnership that includes REC and Firefly Fiber BroadbandSM, a wholly owned subsidiary of Central Virginia Electric Cooperative, along with Greene County.
“This is the second county we’ve been able to celebrate such a milestone with,” said John Hewa, REC’s President and CEO. “As our partnership with Firefly continues to move forward and make progress, we’ll be able to celebrate these milestones with more counties.
“It’s a shining example of co-ops working collaboratively together and the positive impact it has on the businesses and communities we serve,” he added.
“We’re moving as quickly as we can every single day,” said Firefly’s President and CEO Gary Wood. “We have about 400 homes and businesses connected with about 1,700 signed up so far. We’re continuing to make our way into [other areas of] Greene County.”
Greene County’s government leadership has been critical to the success of this project and they’ve been at the forefront of making it happen.
“It wasn’t too long ago where having internet was a luxury, but more and more of our lives have to be done online, making it an essential today,” said Cathy Schafrik County Administrator for Greene County. “Reliable internet is important to rural communities like ours. Businesses can’t thrive without it and individuals need it for daily needs like telehealth.”
Work is ongoing on the 2,650 miles of fiber-to-the-home that REC is building, which will be leased by Firefly to provide high-speed internet access across Louisa, Goochland, Greene, Madison and Albemarle counties.
REC provides electric service to over 178,000 connections in parts of 22 Virginia counties. With its general office in Fredericksburg, Va., the Cooperative operates and maintains more than 18,000 miles of power lines through its service area, which ranges from the Blue Ridge Mountains to the tidal waters of the Chesapeake Bay. For more information about REC, please visit www.myrec.coop. Follow REC on Facebook, X, Instagram, LinkedIn and YouTube.
