AT&T installed high speed fiber optic lines into the Nevada County’s new operation center facility this week. This will enable fiber optic network connectivity back to the County’s data center located in the Nevada City Government Center. The new County operations center also has a full building natural gas generator that together will enable continuous power and network connectivity during power outages such as Public Safety Power Shutoff (PSPS) events. This will provide the County another backup location for essential service workers to work at during these events. Comcast will also be running their fiber optic service into this facility soon.

Some have asked questions on why the County has not installed solar panels on the new building. While the building was constructed and outfitted to support a future solar installation as required by current building codes, the County is currently generating more than enough solar energy at the Highway 49 large solar farm plant to serve the full electric energy needs of this new facility. So, in essence, the building has “virtual” solar panels, they are just located 12+ miles away on another site. It can positively said that the new facility is being powered by the sun.

The County Operations Center is schedule for final construction completion in early June, with Public Works, Fleet Services, and Transit Services moving in over the summer of 2020.