Increasing opportunities for high speed internet

Pittsylvania County was awarded Last Mile broadband funding with EMPOWER to deliver service to 174 premises along Renan and Wards roads from Mount Airy to Grit in the northeast portion of the county. EMPOWER, a subsidiary of Mecklenburg Electric Cooperative, has completed 9.2 miles of line and made its first in-home connections in October 2021. As of April 2023, there were 17 active accounts, three under construction and two applications entering the process.
The total cost of the EMPOWER portion of the project is $758,061
Funding breakdown
•$375,549 Tobacco Region Revitalization Commission grant
•$382,512 Mecklenburg Electric Cooperative/EMPOWER match
As with many rural areas, the rate of sign on is lower and is linked to having customers become comfortable with this service. EMPOWER estimates it will take three years to attain the desired sign-up rate of 45%, and in April asked Pittsylvania County for an extension to fully utilize the funding available for this project.
To view availability of broadband with EMPOWER, click here.
EMPOWER map