Albemarle broadband authority hears audit finding up to 74 potentially unserved locations; pauses reimbursements

The Albemarle County Broadband Authority on an abbreviated meeting reported the results of an audit of BrightSpeed’s build work and discussion of progress on the Firefly project, including construction, easements and funding rounds.

Authority staff reported that an audit requested from BrightSpeed covering roughly 1,430 agreed locations found as many as 74 addresses that may not have been served as intended. "We did pause, close out and reimbursement activities," the staff member said, describing the authority's immediate response while the discrepancy is investigated.

The authority’s summary said some of the 74 addresses appear to be data or address-formatting mismatches that will be resolved by system updates. The staff member added that a subset of locations will require confirmation of network capacity or additional engineering work before they can be served. Staff said BrightSpeed will provide an update with local engineering staff next week to clarify which sites remain unserved and what barriers exist.

Why it matters: the authority said the 74 locations represent roughly 5% of the previously agreed passings in the contract audit. Staff also said the pause means no DHCD or authority reimbursement funds related to the disputed passings have been paid while the issue is addressed.

State and funding context: staff said the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) has expressed willingness to consider prorating payments where builds were not completed; the staff presentation noted DHCD prorated its portion previously when BrightSpeed declined to build to 29 passings, reducing payments by about $4,045,000 in that instance. The authority emphasized that any decision about the authority’s payments will follow its own audit and discussions.

Project updates and next steps: Firefly project-area work (referred to in the meeting as the Body 2022 project area) continues, staff reported. Construction work is under way; Dominion has completed an increase of roughly 35 miles of fiber construction in the region and Appalachian Power will soon complete make-ready work in key areas, officials said. Firefly and the authority advised residents to check the project map at fireflyva.com/partners-albemarle and to preregister at register.fireflyva.com to see project assignments.

On federal and state funding timelines, staff said the DHCD application window for the first round closed with two applicants for Albemarle (Brightcreek and Comcast) and that a further round is planned later in 2025. Staff also said guidance from the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) has been to proceed with business as usual and that any required changes would be handled after awards; staff noted possible administrative delays related to pending federal appointments but said there was no indication the funding would not be awarded.

Public and member requests: one member asked for a GIS map of the unserved locations. Staff said it had received the list the day of the meeting and preferred to review and update the data before distributing it. Staff also noted that one address identified to a senator’s office fell into a different project scope and will be included in the next build round, and staff planned to contact that resident.

Actions and process: the authority paused closeout and reimbursement activity related to the audit while awaiting BrightSpeed’s engineering update. Staff suggested the group would consider a closed meeting if strategy discussions were needed after further technical information is received. The authority approved the consent agenda and later adjourned the meeting.

What’s next: staff said they expect the BrightSpeed engineering update next week and will bring further information to the authority’s next meeting; no final payment or adjustment decisions were made at this session.