After years of planning, funding decisions and delays, broadband expansion is moving closer to construction. For electric utilities, particularly rural cooperatives and municipal utilities, that means another critical phase is approaching: a potentially significant increase in pole attachment applications, make-ready reviews and permitting workloads.
The challenge isn’t simply processing more applications. It’s having enough experienced engineering and review capacity to handle a temporary surge without sacrificing accuracy, safety or existing utility priorities.
Consider the scale. A broadband build serving a rural community of 30,000 homes could involve approximately 15,000 utility poles. At an average of 30 minutes to review each pole, that’s roughly 7,500 hours of engineering work. For a three-person utility team, the report estimates that could represent approximately 62 weeks of continuous processing.
That’s why Collaborative Synergy partnered with Energy Central to examine what utilities should be thinking about now—before attachment volumes accelerate.
A Practical Guide to Preparing for What’s Ahead
The new industry report, How Rural Utilities Can Survive the BEAD Permitting Surge, explores the operational realities behind the broadband buildout and offers practical strategies for utilities preparing for increased workloads.
Among the topics covered are how utilities can:
- Evaluate whether existing joint-use and permitting teams have enough capacity
- Prepare for short-term workload spikes without overstaffing
- Establish outside engineering resources before they’re urgently needed
- Integrate external reviewers into existing utility standards and workflows
- Reduce the risk of permitting becoming a bottleneck once broadband construction accelerates
One of the report’s central recommendations is simple: build your bench before you need it. Establishing processes, standards and working relationships ahead of the surge can put utilities in a much stronger position when applications begin arriving in volume.
Is Your Utility Ready?
Download the full industry report to explore the numbers, hear perspectives from utility and engineering professionals, and learn how utilities can prepare their teams and workflows for the next phase of broadband deployment.
