Jefferson County businesses are served by a reliable and efficient range of services including electricity and natural gas, telecommunications and water/sewer systems. National Grid, Verizon, the City of Watertown Municipal System and Watertown Treatment Plant offer economic development incentive packages and negotiable development rates designed to make your business more competitive.

Electricity

National Grid serves all of Jefferson County with reliable electric service at a variety of available voltages and through various service classification rates that can match a particular industry's needs. Through deregulation, National Grid provides delivery services and allows customers to purchase electricity commodity through third party suppliers. Nation Grid offers discount rate programs through the Empire Zone program, which offers customers some of the deepest discounts in the State on new and increased load, and also through individually negotiated special contracts, based on SIC and/or competitive alternatives, for new or increased load. (Non-disclosure agreements are required on special contracts). JCJDC staff provides a link to key National Grid Economic Development personnel who provide a quick turn-around of pricing proposals and agreements.

Natural Gas

All areas of the City of Watertown and some surrounding areas are provided natural gas service by National Grid. Volumes and pressures are available to serve any commercial or industrial customer. National Grid provides transportation services and gas users can purchase gas through third party suppliers. National Grid offers several rate classifications for various levels of gas usage by customers, including volume discount rates, guaranteed delivery volume rates, interruptible rates, and negotiated rates based on competitive alternatives.

Telecommunications

Jefferson County is served by an advanced telecommunications system. A major telecommunications provider in the area, Verizon, has built a system capable of meeting the telecommunications requirements of the most demanding business, government and private user.

The Development Authority of the North Country has also built an Open Access Telecom Network. This alternate, diverse network delivers a fiber optic transport system throughout Jefferson, Lewis, and St. Lawrence Counties with connections to major global carrier facilities in Syracuse, New York. This state of the art fiber optic transmission network includes 500 miles of fiber and 10 points of presence (POPs), providing wholesale optical and Ethernet circuits which are leased to telecommunications carriers that offer end-user services such as dial tone, data and internet access.

Other telephone companies servicing Jefferson County include: Citizens Telecom, Westelcom, One Communications, AT&T, Sprint/Nextel and Time Warner Cable.

Water and Wastewater

The principal source of water and wastewater services in the County is the City of Watertown Municipal System.  The City's Water Plant is rated at 15 Million Gallons per Day (MGD), and in 2006 averaged 4.8 MGD. The William T. Field Memorial Pollution Control Plant is a 16.0 MGD secondary facility and during 2006, the facility treated an average of 10.9 MGD.

The County is also served by a large number of smaller municipal water systems at the town and village level.

Wastewater treatment services are also provided by the City of Watertown. The Pollution Control Plant is currently processing 6 to 7 million gallons per day, 7 million gallons below its licensed capacity.

For further information on Jefferson County's utilities:

National Grid - Website
City of Watertown Municipal System - Website
Pollution Control Plant - Website