July 25, 2024

Palmyra, Va. – Governor Glenn Youngkin announced the award of $12.2 million in Virginia Telecommunication Initiative (VATI) grant funding to Firefly Fiber Broadband^SM, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Central Virginia Electric Cooperative. The funding will support the $48.6 million project, in partnership with Rappahannock Electric Cooperative, Dominion Energy, and county governments, to provide universal access to gigabit-speed broadband service for unserved homes and businesses across 10 counties in Central Virginia. The fiber construction project will span approximately two years, covering 603 miles and reaching nearly 6,000 additional eligible locations in the counties of Amherst, Appomattox, Buckingham, Campbell, Fluvanna, Goochland, Greene, Louisa, Madison, and Powhatan.

“Thanks to the critical funding provided by the Virginia General Assembly and made available through the VATI program, we can now assure that every family and business in central Virginia will have access to reliable, affordable internet service equivalent to the best in the United States,” said Gary Wood, Firefly president and CEO. “We appreciate the hard work and support of Governor Youngkin, General Assembly members, as well as the support of the supervisors in each of the partner counties.”

Administered by the Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD), VATI provides targeted financial assistance to extend broadband service to areas that are unserved by an internet service provider. Projects were selected through a competitive process that evaluated each project for demonstrated need and benefit for the community, applicant readiness and capacity, and the cost and leverage of the proposed project. Firefly was awarded a VATI grant in 2022 to serve 36,000 homes and businesses in the region by the end of 2025. This VATI 2024 grant will be used to expand on the fiber built with funds from the VATI 2022 grant and will reach an additional 5,825 locations over the next two years.

The Thomas Jefferson Planning District Commission (TJPDC) served as the lead applicant for the grant application. “The TJPDC is proud to continue our current partnership with Firefly to reach the objective of providing universal broadband access to all underserved and unserved areas in Central Virginia,” said Christine Jacobs, TJPDC Executive Director. “We look forward to more collaboration with this great team to further advance the provision of high-speed fiber internet across the project area.”

Firefly’s Regional Internet Service Expansion (RISE) Project was launched in 2021 to expand broadband to parts of 13 counties, making internet high-speed internet accessible to more than 45,000 locations and 112,000 Virginians. The RISE project includes 5,000 miles of fiber construction and will cost $330 million to complete. The project is executed by partnering with other area utilities to complete the fiber build, using funds secured from the VATI grants and county contributions to aid with construction costs. For more information about the RISE Project, visit http://www.fireflyva.com/rise.

Firefly is also the internet service provider (ISP) for the CVEC fiber build, a $130 million plan that installed over 4,500 miles of fiber-optic cable in the 14 counties it serves, providing broadband internet access to all of its 39,000 members. The fiber network, completed in 2022, is owned by CVEC and uses laser light and glass fibers to move data at speeds of up to one gigabit per second, delivering world-class communications to CVEC members.

Firefly achieved the milestone of connecting 30,000 customers in June and will celebrate its 6^th year in business at the end of July. More information about areas included in this build and for pricing on internet and phone packages, visit www.fireflyva.com.

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Headquartered in Palmyra, VA, Firefly Fiber Broadband^SM is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Central Virginia Electric Cooperative. Firefly offers lightning-fast internet via fiber to the premise that is reliable and priced fairly with no hidden equipment costs or special introductory pricing that increases the base cost of phone or internet later. Firefly has no contracts, no data caps or slowdowns and offers symmetrical upload and download speeds. Firefly Light offers 100 mbps for $49.99; Firefly Flash offers 1 gbps for $79.99; and Firefly Voice is $34.99 with a $5.00 discount when bundled with internet. For more information, visit www.fireflyva.com.

Press Inquiries: Melissa Gay, 434-263-7638 (mgay@mycvec.com)