Pennyrile Electric President/CEO Alan Gates brought strong infrastructure news to the Trigg County Fiscal Court Monday night — sharing his office has received a $5.83 million federal award from the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment, or BEAD, Program.
The funding will be used to finish out the remaining 15% underserved fiber internet customers in the Pennyrile Electric service area, which includes large portions of Trigg County, as well several pockets of rural development in southern Lyon County.
His announcement comes less than a week after he and related officials announced “no electric rate increases” for Pennyrile Electric customers during the 2026-27 fiscal year, which began July 1.
Gates confirmed the BEAD application requires a 25% match, or in this case more than $1.9 million. He noted his entire board of directors, including Mindy Hargrove and Jimmy Futrell, were key not only in procuring the grant, but also paying this, while assuring that Pennyrile Electric cleans up the rest of the unfinished buildout — a major boon for Trigg County.
He called an original ARPA investment made by the county, valued at $2 million, “critical” to the project’s off-and-running start.
Gates said a timeline on full completion isn’t set in stone, but offered forth these estimates:
+ one month before award execution
+ two months for contractor bids
+ four months for permitting
+ six-to-eight months for completion of environmental studies
+ 10 months for design
+ 16 months for engineering and make-ready efforts
+ and 28 months for construction, testing and customer sign ups and installs
With all of these estimates running concurrently, he said the first quarter of 2027 should be the arrival of new fiber branches, with Pennyrile Electric at 100% service by 2028.
Judge-Executive Stan Humphries, and magistrates, thanked Gates and Pennyrile Electric for their due diligence and commitment to Trigg County, which for years has needed capable, effective and consistent high-speed internet service — with few, if any, answers available.
Despite these delays, Gates affirmed that south western Kentucky will soon be among the most digitally-connected regions in the Commonwealth, with others further behind schedule.
