Learn About CDE’s Referendum

The Clarksville Department of Electricity is proud to be able to meet the energy needs of our customers. For nearly 70 years, CDE has made it a point to utilize the latest in technology in order to provide our customers the best service possible. Because of the dedication of our employees and board members, and the loyalty of our customers, CDE has been able to consistently offer quality electric service at an afffordable price.

CDE now has an opportunity to enhance the service we offer to this community.

 CDE currently has 125 miles of fiber optic telecommunications lines up and working. The benefits of this technology are evident to us in providing better electric service to our customers. Customers whose homes and businesses are connected to the fiber optic network can monitor their electric usage in real time from the comfort of their home or office. Electric meters are continuosly read using the fiber connection at the meter. Since there will no longer be a scheduled meter reading time, customers can choose the day of the month their bill is due. Outages are recognized as soon as they occur, whether the customer calls CDE or not. The ability to monitor the voltage delivered to a customer allows certain problems to be addressed before the customer is affected. Meter readings for transfer of service from one customer to another are available without CDE having to send an employee to the premises.

CDE would like to connect every home and business in Clarksville with fiber to the home technology. In addition to the enhanced electric service benefits, CDE will also be able to use the fiber network to provide other services to those who choose to do business with us. A fiber to the home system can provide video services, Internet access at speeds not currently offered by other providers and other telecommunications services. One can think of the fiber connection at every electric meter as a pipe carrying data to and from the home. Each application or service uses part of the capacity of the pipe. Fiber optics is the most current technology and offers the biggest data pipe available – at an affordable price.

The community benefit of having affordable access to high-speed data services at every home and business is tremendous. Some of these benefits include improved educational opportunities for our students, better healthcare, public safety innovations, and economic development opportunities for our community. Clarksville will be one of only a few cities in the nation to provide this service to all its citizens.

The proposition to build this fiber optic system will be presented to the citizens of Clarksville on the ballot of the November 7 election. I hope you will weigh the benefits of this system and then express your opinion by voting on the referendum. And I hope you will vote yes.

Kenneth R. Spradlin
CDE President

This article is from a press release from CDE’s web site.