Electricity
The state’s electrical suppliers offer high reliability service using redundant transmission, substations and/or feeder circuits.  A 500 kV, 230kV, and 115 kV transmission grid covering the state is powered by generating plants which are primarily supplied by coal.  New businesses locating in Georgia with connected loads of at least 900 kW may choose among competing power suppliers.  The Integration Transmission System(ITS), which allows the electric utilities companies to use each other’s transmission lines, eliminates costly duplication and guarantees each power supplier the same ability to serve “customer choice” facilities.

In Polk County, a peak load plant is operated by Oglethorpe Power. Georgia Power also owns and operates Plant Bowen, the second largest coal-fired generation facility in North America less than 8 miles from Rockmart.

Local Telecommunications Services & Broadband
Local telecommunications services in Polk, Georgia and the surrounding area are provided by AT&T Telecommunications, Charter Communications and Parker FiberNet with speeds and capacities over 100Mbps in some areas.

Telecommunication facilities are provided to our business customers by a combination of T-1 carrier and fiber optic cable. Integrated Service Digital Network (ISDN), T-1 service, Frame Relay and OS-3 are some of the other data services offered in the Rome wirecenter. Fast speed ADSL service is  being offered to both residential and business customers.

Appalachian Valley Fiber Network

The Appalachian Valley Fiber Network (AVFN) was awarded a $21,286,914 grant through a Broadband Technology Opportunities Program (BTOP) by the U.S. Department of Commerce, National Telecommunications and Information Administration on August 18, 2010. AVFN is a public-private partnership designed to bring a middle-mile fiber network to 12 countries across northwest Georgia and eastern Alabama. Most of the community anchor institutions located in these 12 countries report either inadequate access to broadband or a lack of affordable, high-capacity service form existing providers. Large portions of the area include rocky terrain requiring underground installation, rock boring, and trenching in order to deploy the fiber necessary to bring high-speed service to the region, a clear challenge to deployment. The project proposes constructing 182 new miles of fiber and leasing 287 miles of dark fiber to complement existing resources.

Appalachian Valley Fiber Network also proposes to: Connect as many as 185 community anchor institutions with speeds of up to 1 Gbps, including 16 K-12 public schools, 46 public safety facilities, and 58 other government facilities, including local municipality offices citing the needs for greater broadband access to provide more efficient services. The networks will also connect to Georgia Northwestern Technical Colleges (which now encompasses the former Coosa Valley Technical College and northwestern Technical College campuses) as well as Chattahoochee Technical College; Facilitate more affordable and accessible broadband service for up to approximately 144,000 households and 8,300 businesses by enabling local Internet service providers in to utilize the project’s open network; and Interconnect with as many as five regional last-mile providers who have already committed to using the new network to bring affordable high-speed service to the region.

Appalachian Valley Fiber Network is a public-private partnership between Parker Fibernet, LLC and the organizations listed below. Parker Systems, founded in 1985, is a leading broadband technology provider in northwest Georgia.

Project Partners:

• Northwest Georgia Regional Commission
• Georgia Tech Enterprise Innovation Institute
• East Alabama Regional Planning and Development Commission
• Trento Telephone Company of Trenton, Georgia
• Alabama Broadband Initiative
• Northwest Georgia Joint Development Authority
• Citizens for a Digital Future
  

Natural Gas
Deregulated. Available in industrial quantities on an interruptible and uninterruptible basis.

Water

Provider	Total  Daily Capacity (gallons)	Excess Daily Capacity (gallons)	Avg. Daily Use (gallons)
City of Cedartown	3,000,000	1,100,000	1,900,000
City of Rockmart	3,000,000	1,600,000	1,400,000
Polk Polk County Water	5,100,000	2,200,000	2,900,000

Sewer

Provider	Total  Daily Capacity (gallons)	Excess Daily Capacity (gallons)	Avg. Daily Use (gallons)
City of Cedartown	3,500,000	1,500,000	2,000,000
City of Rockmart	3,000,000	1,500,000	1,400,000
Polk Polk County Water	n/a	n/a	n/a

	Detailed Water & Sewer Plant Information - Click Here