Our Beavercreek members and neighbors know that winter weather can arrive quickly, especially in the more rural, forested areas. Strong winds, falling trees, and storm-related outages can create challenges for both power and communications services. That's why the BCT team is already hard at work preparing our network and staff for the months ahead.

When winter storms impact our service area, BCT technicians remain on call and ready to respond around the clock. Our team works closely with Portland General Electric crews whenever downed trees or damaged utility infrastructure affect Internet and Voice services. In many situations, power restoration and safety work must be completed before communications equipment can be repaired, so coordination between utility crews is critical to restoring service as quickly and safely as possible.

At the same time, BCT continues to make significant progress on one of our most important network resiliency projects: the deployment of our new battery backup system. This system provides up to eight hours of backup power to key network facilities during commercial power outages. This enhancement will help keep BCT's network operating when utility power is unavailable, giving members with their own backup power sources, such as generators or solar-powered battery systems, the ability to remain connected during extended outages.

Image caption: BCT Technician Donnie Hohman installs a battery backup cabinet.

The first two phases of the battery backup system have already been completed, extending this capability to over 800 BCT members – this includes the areas of Lower and Upper Highland, Hogback, Schuebel School, Clarkes Northeast, Spangler East, Spangler West, Eldorado, and Carus South.

In case you missed it – Video: Learn More About BCT’s Battery Backup System

The next phase of the project is in preparations as equipment is being shipped and staged. Phase 3 will provide battery backup to remote network nodes in Carus, Leland East, Leland West, Beavercreek West, Spangler Northwest, Spangler Northeast, Steiner and Steiner West.

While no network can be completely immune to severe winter weather, these investments and preparations help strengthen BCT's ability to serve members when reliable communications matter most. As winter approaches, please know that our team remains committed to keeping our community connected and stands ready to respond whenever needed.