PORT TOWNSEND — Gov. Chris Gregoire has given top ranking to Northwest Open Access Network’s application for federal funding to support community high-speed broadband Internet infrastructure funding, which puts Jefferson County’s request in good standing for approval.

Jefferson County Public Utility District applied through NoaNet in March to the U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration Broadband Technology Opportunities Program — or BTOP — for $3.2 million.

The grant would be used to build a fiber-optic backbone to serve the county’s government hubs.

Wireless networks

That ultimately could lead to extending wireless networks from that broadband backbone for private business and for personal use, officials said.

National Telecommunications and Information Administration, the granting agency, would require that work be done within three years.

The decision about the grant is expected in September.

Gregoire “highly recommended” NoaNet’s proposal, which includes Jefferson County’s, saying the application “not only met the federal program objectives and Washington State’s broadband priorities, but also stood out as being the most valuable to the state and most likely to be successfully executed.”

“This is the highest ranked proposal and meets all seven of the BTOP Comprehensive Community Infrastructure criteria,” Gregoire wrote in a May 3 letter to Lawrence Strickling, assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications and Information with the Department of Commerce.

Former Washington Gov. Gary Locke is U.S. Secretary of Commerce for the Obama administration.

Jefferson County PUD is a founding member of NoaNet, a consortium of PUDs statewide that have linked their fiber optic networks together to achieve economic feasibility in underserved areas.

“The Jefferson County PUD has stayed with this since day one,” said Jefferson County PUD Commissioner Wayne King of Gardiner.

“Without us in this, we wouldn’t have gotten this.”

Jefferson County’s is a small piece of the overall NoaNet “round 2” funding request of $55.3 million to serve 283 anchor institutions in the Northwest and 55 economically depressed communities.

“Many of these areas have challenging terrains where broadband infrastructure would likely not otherwise be built,” the governor said in her letter.

Gregoire said she gave NoaNet’s application her “strongest endorsement” because the agency has a track record of successful deployment and expertise and involves a public-private partnership of stakeholders.

She also said that the application is coordinated with “meritorious projects proposed by other applicants.”

Clallam PUD

In late March, Clallam County Public Utility District, through NoaNet, was awarded an $84 million federal grant dollars, specifically to benefit the Jamestown S’Klallam and Makah tribes.

It was part of the so-called “round one” of federal economic stimulus funding the Obama Administration has designated for rural broadband.

Jefferson County government entities this year banded together to apply for and secure “round two” grant dollars to build a broadband backbone loop between the Tri-Area and Port Townsend.

The high-speed Internet loop would serve the public institutions.

As propsoed, the network later would be extended east and west through wireless connectivity that could ultimately serve commercial interests.

Jefferson County PUD Resource Manager Bill Graham said he was confident the dollars would ultimately come through to meet the county’s broadband Internet needs.

‘In driver’s seat’

“I think we’re in the driver’s seat,” Graham said. “We’re looking great statewide and probably nationally.

Graham said it was a grant that benefits schools, colleges, emergency services and other state agencies, providing broadband hubs at Jefferson County Courthouse, Port Angeles City Hall, Jefferson Healthcare hospital and the school districts.

Besides government, Graham said, “Part of the goal is to make broadband successful for commercial development.”

The NoaNet application is ranked ahead of those from Puget Sound Center Foundation for Teaching, Learning and Technology and the Washington State Superintendent of Public Instruction.

It also tops applications from the Grays Harbor Public Development Authority and the Port of Allyn in North Mason County.

NoaNet spokeswoman Nena Walton said NoaNet executives were thankful to the governor for her support.

“This is going to further build on and expand the network for round 1 and the benefits they’ve already received from NTIA,” she said.

She said that other applicants mentioned they were connecting with the NoaNet broadband infrastructure.

“For those other entities to be successful, this entity needs to be done,” she said of NoaNet, adding the NoaNet system was interwoven with others.

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Port Townsend-Jefferson County Editor Jeff Chew can be reached at 360-385-2335 or at jeff.chew@peninsuladailynews.com.