(The commission audio should be posted by late afternoon 5/16/2025.)
Grant PUD Commissioners discussed proposed changes during their meeting on Tuesday, May 13, to Grant PUD’s application process for customers requesting loads of 500 kilowatts or higher.
Grant PUD’s Telecom & Fiber Services team told commissioners that as of March 31, 75.13% of Grant PUD’s customers are using the utility’s wholesale fiber-optic system. Communities with the highest participation rate include Desert Aire at 92.81%, George-Burke 86%, Quincy 85.83% and Mattawa 81.94%. Areas with the lowest participation rate are Stratford at 14%, Coulee City at 57.87%, Warden at 59.82% and Wilson Creek at 59.89%. The Wholesale Fiber team has a goal of an 80% participation rate by the end of 2025.
Customer information is not affected by a data breach that compromised the personal data of nearly 850 Grant PUD employees and recent retirees on the payroll from March through April 2024.
NOTE: This recap contains two separate audio recordings, Part A and Part B. Part B contains the action items and the second part of the conversation with land owners who are disputing the route of the Wanapum to Mt. View transmission line.
Commissioners voted unanimously during their meeting on Tuesday, April 8 to table a resolution starting the process of acquiring easements on private property by condemnation for the new Wanapum to Mountain View 230 kilovolt transmission line.
A 19-year Grant PUD employee with ample insights into energy-trading markets and the changing utility environment has been named to lead the team researching investments in new sources of energy to power Grant County into the future.
Rich Flanigan will begin his new role as chief commercial officer on April 11, 2025, but is already serving as “interim” chief until his official start date. He replaces John Mertlich, whom commissioners recently chose to lead the utility as general manager & CEO.
(Editor’s note: This meeting took place at the Hydro Office Building, near Wanapum Dam and was not recorded.)
(Note: Commissioners also announced the new general manager this week. Details are in a separate news release here.)
Careful budgeting and disciplined spending resulted total expenditures of $464.4 million in 2024 – only $2.9 million below that year’s original budget forecast, according to the latest figures, shared with commissioners Tuesday.
EPHRATA WA - Grant PUD Commission voted to appoint John Mertlich as the next General Manager and CEO position during their meeting on March 11.
Planting a tree isn’t just a great way to spruce up your landscape—it’s also a smart investment in energy efficiency. At Grant PUD, we believe in solutions that benefit your home and the environment. Trees not only add beauty to your property but also help reduce cooling and heating costs, improve air quality, and protect water quality. According to the National Arbor Day Foundation, strategically placed trees can help the average homeowner save up to 20% on energy costs.
Grant PUD’s Enterprise Project Management Office is using a powerful combination of software tools to better track the cost and progress over time of the capital projects they oversee, commissioners learned this week.
The information helps guide business decisions and deliver projects at the highest value. The office is also investigating whether to pursue becoming “self-certified” in “Design Build,” the state’s streamlined bidding, contracting and building process.
Self-certification could reduce timelines even more on projects that include electric system expansion and upgrades. See the full report on pages 2-17 of the presentation materials. Hear the discussion at 13:49 on the commission audio.
Grant PUD Commissioners formally announced that they accepted the resignation of General Manager/Chief Executive Officer Rich Wallen during their meeting on Tuesday, Feb. 11.
Charitable giving through investments in energy conservation
(Note: We apologize for this week's audio recording, which is intermittent in parts, due to technical problems.)
For the past 25 years, Grant PUD’s wholesale Fiber Optic network has been in growth mode as it focused on the task of building out a system to serve Grant PUD customers countywide. Now with all major construction complete for the initial network, the Grant PUD Telecom & Fiber Services team is moving into a new era of operations and maintenance to keep the wholesale network sustainable.
Winter isn’t the only time of year electricity use and power bills go up in Grant County. Prolonged hot spells have the same effect on the family power bill, increasing the financial burden for families in need.
Priest Rapids Dam is “suitable for safe and continued operation,” according to its comprehensive safety assessment, commissioners learned Tuesday.
Winter isn’t the only time of year electricity use and power bills go up in Grant County. Prolonged hot spells have the same effect on the family power bill, increasing the financial burden for families in need.
Commissioners each received a copy of a new book on Grant PUD's colorful history, rapid growth, current challenges and future opportunities. It will be provided soon in Grant County libraries, high schools, museums, port districts and other municipal entities. The book, "Powering On: The Can-do Legacy Driving Grant PUD Into the Future," was written by Pacitic Northwest author and hydropower historian John Harrison. Photo, from left, Commissioners Tom Flint, Terry Pyle, Nelson Cox, author Harrison, Commissioners Judy Wilson and Larry Schaapman. Scroll down for more.
2025 budget, 3% rate increase, new rate-setting strategy approved in final commission meeting of the year
Commissioners Tuesday unanimously approved a $312.2 million budget for 2025 and a 3% increase to retail rate revenue effective April 1, 2025.
NOTE: Commission audio will be posted as soon as possible
Commissioners unanimously approved a five-year Purchase Power Agreement with Goose Prairie Solar Development as part of Grant PUD’s plan for powering anticipated growth in the county. Under the agreement, Grant PUD will receive 100-percent of the energy and capacity output of the 80-megawatt Moxee-based generation facility.
Grant PUD crews were out early Monday, Nov. 18, to determine the cause of a series of outages in the Winchester area.
(Note: Desplácese hacia abajo para español)
Grant PUD crews have worked for days trying to diagnose the cause of a spate of intermittent power outages that have affected the Winchester area, between Quincy and Ephrata, since Nov. 13. As it turns out, the culprit was, in fact, a cow with an itch to scratch.
The first cow-related outage was reported Nov. 13. After days and two complete nights patrolling power lines to search for the problem, crews were out again early Monday, Nov. 18, after another report of a flash seen from area electric equipment. This time, they are fairly sure the outage was caused by one or more cows that had discovered how a guy wire securing an area power pole was an excellent scratching post.
(Updated, 11/20/2024) As a cow rubs against the guy wire for a scratch, it shakes the entire pole, causing the attached power lines to sway and touch each other. This causes an electrical fault and flash that result in an outage. The electric system restores power automatically after a few minutes when the lines settle back into their correct positions and the fault is no longer present. A guy wire attaches to the top of the pole and extends diagonally to the ground, where it's anchored, to help keep the pole upright. The guy wire is not electrified, so no harm comes to the cow.
Intermittent outages such as these are difficult to diagnose, since power has reset by the time crews get to the location to search for damage.
(Updated, 11/22/2024) Crews didn't observe a cow in the process of scratching, but have seen this happen in the past. Here's a video of shot by one of our crewmen in Quincy in 2022. In the case of the latest flash sighting, a heard of cows were grazing nearby, gleaning from a harvested corn field. Crews' previous inspections ruled out other potential causes.
(Updated, 11/20/2024) Grant PUD personnel worked with the property owner to reroute an electric fence to keep the cows away from the guy wire. They are also working to "sectionalize" the feeder, so any future outages will affect fewer customers.
And to everyone affected by these outages, thanks for your patience, as we work to get the lights back on... and keep them on.
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Actualización: Se confirma la hipótesis de la vaca en una serie de apagones de Winchester
Las cuadrillas de Grant PUD han trabajado durante días tratando de diagnosticar la causa de una serie de cortes de energía intermitentes que han afectado el área de Winchester, entre Quincy y Ephrata, desde el 13 de noviembre. Resulta que las culpables eran, de hecho, una o más vacas con ganas de rascarse.
Después de días y al menos una noche completa de patrullar las líneas eléctricas para buscar el problema, las cuadrillas volvieron a salir la madrugada del lunes 18 de noviembre, después de otro informe de un destello visto desde el equipo eléctrico del área. Esta vez, están bastante seguros de que el apagón fue causado por una o más vacas que habían descubierto cómo un cable de sujeción que aseguraba un poste de energía de área era un excelente poste para rascar..
(Actualizado, 20/11/2024) A medida que una vaca se frota contra el cable de sujeción para rascarse, sacude todo el poste, lo que hace que las líneas eléctricas conectadas se balanceen y se toquen entre sí. Esto provoca una falla eléctrica y un destello que resulta en un apagón. El sistema eléctrico restablece la energía automáticamente después de unos minutos cuando las líneas vuelven a sus posiciones correctas y la falla ya no está presente. Un cable de sujeción se conecta a la parte superior del poste y se extiende en diagonal hasta el suelo, donde está anclado, para ayudar a mantener el poste en posición vertical. El cable de sujeción no está electrificado, por lo que la vaca no sufre ningún daño.
Los apagones intermitentes como estos son difíciles de diagnosticar, ya que la energía se ha restablecido cuando los equipos llegan al lugar para buscar daños.
Las cuadrillas aún no han observado una vaca en el proceso de rascado, pero han visto que esto sucede en el pasado. En el caso del último avistamiento relámpago, se oye ver vacas pastando cerca, espigando de un campo de maíz cosechado. Las inspecciones previas de las cuadrillas descartaron otras posibles causas.
(Actualizado, 20/11/2024) El personal de Grant PUD trabajó con el dueño de la propiedad para desviar una cerca eléctrica para mantener a las vacas alejadas del alambre. También están trabajando para "seccionar" el circuito, por lo que cualquier interrupción futura afectará a menos clientes.
Y a todos los afectados por estos apagones, gracias por su paciencia, mientras trabajamos para volver a encender las luces... y mantenerlos puestos.