- EPB is a visionary company that created a fiber network to manage its electric grid, and then began also offering fiber broadband service to consumers
- Soon, EPB CEO David Wade will retire, and Janet Rehberg will take over as CEO
- The company's latest vision is to become a leader in quantum
EPB, the Chattanooga, Tennessee, electric utility company has long been a hero in the broadband world because it was the first electric utility to offer 1 Gbps broadband to consumers. These days, it can offer speeds of 25 Gig. EPB has more than 200,000 energy customers and over 130,000 fiber customers.
Speaking of heroes, EPB’s CEO David Wade — a soft-spoken Southerner with an intellect as sharp as a tack — will soon retire, and EPB’s President Janet Rehberg will step into the CEO role September 1st.
This week, Rehberg spoke on a Fiber Broadband Association (FBA) webinar about EPB’s work with quantum computing. Similar to how it led the charge for fiber broadband with gigabit speeds, EPB also wants to be a leader in quantum.
Rehberg talked about both quantum computing and quantum networking on the FBA webinar.
Quantum computing relies on a fundamentally different architecture than classical computing, and it can run programs far faster and solve problems that are just too hard for classical compute.
There’s also quantum networking, which can use things such as quantum key distribution (QKD) to secure networks and let network operators know if there is an intrusion.
Rehberg said that in 2023, EPB introduced a commercially available quantum network in Chattanooga for the use of EPB as well as academics, national labs and quantum startups that want to test their products for a reasonable cost.
“Quantum networking takes our classical networking to that whole new security level,” said Rehberg. “And that's why, because we are in the energy space, making sure that we secure the data that's coming from our electric grid through our fiber network is very, very critical.”
EPB has also purchased an IonQ Forte Enterprise Quantum computer to trial quantum computing scenarios. Rehberg said, “Our computer is being built in our quantum center today and should be operational very, very soon.”
She said EPB is getting into quantum not only to optimize its own business but to help the community of Chattanooga.
“Our fiber network has really enhanced, created and retained jobs, and we didn't even realize the potential opportunity of our fiber network when we started with it back 15 years ago. We’ve seen a lot of people coming in because they want to live here with the mountains and the water, but they have fast internet and the bandwidth they need to work from home.”
EBP is also working to develop quantum talent in the region. It’s working with the University of Tennessee Chattanooga as well as Vanderbilt University, and it just announced a K-12 program called Tennessee Works in Chattanooga to train the next generation of quantum scientists.
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