How Our Broadband Project is Possible

1:30PM February 19, 2018

CDEC’s broadband service is made possible through communication upgrades to the co-op’s electric system and with the blessing of the co-op’s members.

In 2016, CDEC’s membership voted in favor of a bylaw amendment to allow CDEC to work toward providing voluntary broadband internet and telecommunication services to customers. As a result, in 2017 CDEC began construction on a Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) system, a fiber-optic communication backbone connecting the co-op’s substations to a central command center at its Grants headquarters. The first phase of SCADA will connect the co-op’s Grants and Bluewater substations to the command center.            

This infrastructure improvement will enable SCADA communication, a modern digital energy management system used to monitor, control and optimize the performance of electrical distribution. SCADA will allow CDEC to provide safe and reliable electricity to its members more efficiently. This fiber-optic investment to improve the delivery of power also gives the co-op the opportunity to offer high-speed, broadband internet service to businesses and residents through the same fiber-optic network. 

As construction of CDEC’s broadband network progresses, the public can expect visits from contractors with Pulse Broadband, Kelly Cable, and C.B.R. Services, companies that specialize in the design and building of fiber systems. Pulse is identifying poles that need make-ready improvements to ensure safety and reliability of the co-op’s electric and broadband networks. Kelly Cable and C.B.R. Services, both New Mexico-based companies, are performing the make-ready construction and stringing the fiber-optic lines on the co-op’s power poles.