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Joint broadband update: contractor locating delays stall Warren County work, presenter urges state escalation
Summary
A joint BEAD project representative told the Warren County Commissioners that work is delayed because USIC, the utility-locating contractor, has limited crews covering multiple counties, and urged the county to ask the state PUC to intervene; the presenter offered a county-specific web registration to improve scheduling.
Matthew Andrews, a presenter for the joint broadband effort, told the Warren County Commissioners that progress on local broadband builds is stalled by utility locating delays. “We are a 100% dependent on USIC to get locates and paint,” Andrews said, adding that USIC had told the team it would not be working in the county this week and that the company’s limited crew coverage stretches across multiple counties.
Why it matters: Locates and marking are prerequisites for final construction steps. Andrews said the delay prevents sign-ups and risks months-long waits for residents and businesses to receive service. He described options the project team is exploring, including asking the state Public Utilities Commission to help and creating a Warren County–specific web registration so residents can sign up and get queued properly.
The presentation summarized three funding “buckets” for the project and said one round (NLC 3) is complete while NLC 4 and another bucket will start later this year. Andrews said the team has the materials and funding on hand but lacks locates and paint to finish line work. He also reported the team is forming a special project request to USIC and exploring call-center improvements for better customer responses.
County members asked whether gas companies or CenterPoint Energy could do locates directly; presenters said some utilities use different locators but many are constrained by existing contracts. The presenter cited a recent meeting with CenterPoint Energy, which is reportedly renegotiating locating contracts after incidents where markings and actual pipe locations did not match.
Next steps: Andrews said the team will continue weekly updates, pursue a PUC escalation if counties notify the state of the problem, and provide a county-tailored sign-up page to reduce scheduling friction. The board thanked the presenters and did not take formal action at the close of the update.
