News - Page 8

This week's commission meeting was held digitally, by audio conference, in an effort to follow state health officials' recommendations to reduce public gatherings to prevent spreading COVID-19 Coronavirus. Meetings will take place this way until further notice. The meeting was recorded in a different way and isn't immediately able to be posted on t...

desplácese hacia abajo para español EPHRATA- As Grant PUD works through this COVID-19 response phase, we want to assure customers that our team continues our daily activities of providing service and support to Grant PUD's customers. The power will keep flowing to the businesses and homes throughout the county and as customers' bills come due, we h...

Desplácese hacia abajo para español EPHRATA — As a precautionary measure to protect the safety of customers and employees, all Grant PUD facilities will now be closed to public access until further notice. Only employees who are identified as mission-critical personnel in operating Grant PUD's generating and power systems, as well as the fiber netw...

Grant PUD's Incident Command Team and I decided this week to take the prudent action of closing all Grant PUD facilities to the public. Until further notice, only Grant PUD employees required to provide on-site, mission-critical functions will report to their normal work locations. We are also taking the advice of public health officials to create ...

EPHRATA — Grant PUD is taking the following action effective immediately as a precautionary measure to protect employees and customers from the potential threat of the COVID-19 Coronavirus: The lobby of the Royal City Local Office (505 Royal Road, Royal City, WA) will be drive-through only until further notice. Customers can continue to make paymen...

EPHRATA — The portion of C Street SW, between Division Avenue and First Avenue SW will close the morning of March 12, to haul a new piece of air-conditioning equipment onto the roof of Grant PUD headquarters. That portion of C Street will close at approximately 7 a.m. The crane and a truck with the new equipment will stage on C Street. The job shou...

A press conference was held to allow local stakeholders the chance to respond to the federal Environmental Impact Statement released on Friday. Agencies represented at Tuesday's event included Grant PUD, Benton PUD, Franklin PUD, Port of Pasco, Tri-City Regional Chamber of Commerce, Benton Clean Air Agency and Benton Rural Electric Cooperative. "To...

Young mathematicians test their knowledge   More than 350 competitors from 27 schools from Grant County and the rest of North Central Washington competed in this sort-of math Olympics Feb. 28 at Clovis Point Intermediate School in East Wenatchee. Grant PUD staffers, management — and a management spouse — take a leading role in making Math is C...

Data sharing Why do salmon sometimes break with ancestral tradition and return from the ocean to spawn in a stream other than their "birth" stream? Are they rebels? Rugged individualists? Troublemakers? Two Grant PUD fisheries scientists, Todd Pearsons and Rod O'Conner, recently had an article on our experiences with "straying salmon" published in ...

EPHRATA — The portion of C Street SW, between Division Avenue and First Avenue SW will be closed the morning of Friday, Feb. 28 for crane work to remove an old piece of air-conditioning equipment from the roof of Grant PUD headquarters.That portion of C Street and the sidewalk along its east side by the headquarters building will close at 6 a.m. Pa...

A wide range of efforts to minimize power interruptions and improve overall system reliability were highlighted during Tuesday's commission meeting. One new tool the utility is exploring are the use of drones. Crews would utilize drones to assist with patrolling power lines and inspecting substations. Power Delivery Engineer Will Coe, told commissi...

Lessons learned from 2019 to help future fiber expansion Although 2019 had its share of challenges with expanding Grant PUD's fiber-optic network, the accomplishments from the past year provided valuable insights while setting a very high bar for future expansion efforts. This was the message Grant PUD's Senior Manager of Wholesale Fiber, Russ Bret...

Managing Director of Power Production Ty Ehrman told commissioners Tuesday that the low bid to build a secondary embankment on the Yakima County side of Priest Rapids Dam came in at $33.4 million, almost $13 million less than the engineer's estimate. Staff is recommending the low bidder, IMCO Construction of Ferndale, WA., for the job. Work is expe...

Three route alternatives considered for new 115-kilovolt transmission line in Royal City After evaluating numerous route segments, Grant PUD staff and engineering consultants have identified three potential construction routes for the new "Red Rock" 115-kilovolt transmission line near Royal City. The public will have a chance to view detailed maps ...

S&P Global, Moody's and Fitch uphold their high credit ratings EPHRATA — Three of the world's top bond-rating agencies have affirmed strong credit ratings for Grant PUD, as the utility readies to pay down debt for long-term savings that will help keep electric rates low. The high ratings enable Grant PUD to take fuller advantage of current mark...

Approximately 75 irrigation customers attended our first Irrigation Workshop at the Grant County Fairgrounds, Dec. 11, in what promises to become an annual or biennial (every two years) event. Grant PUD subject-matter experts talk about Grant PUD's 2020 budget — which includes no rate increase for the second consecutive year — our expectations for ...

This 100,000-pound, 115 kV, transformer arrived at the Randolph Road Substation Dec. 5 from its manufacturer, Virginia Transformer Corp. of Pocatello, Idaho. Grant PUD is in the process of expanding the substation from its current footprint of 29,830 sq. ft. to 40,035 sq. ft. Improvements include one new transformer line-up to the existing two line...

About eight of every 10 Grant PUD customers show high levels of satisfaction with the utility, according to the results of a recent telephone survey among customers throughout the county. Senior Manager of External Affairs, Andrew Munro, told commissioners that the results of the biennial survey showed an overall satisfaction score of 82%, down fro...

The Grant PUD electric system from Royal City north to Quincy and Ephrata will become more resilient to power outages and gain capacity for new customers following a 2-year, approximately $58 million package of upgrades slated to begin construction in mid-2020. Total project cost will be refined in the coming months. Grant PUD project managers Davi...

Commissioners unanimously agreed Tuesday that no Grant PUD customer, except those classified as "evolving industry" under Rate 17, will receive an electric-rate increase in 2020. Commissioners Tom Flint, Judy Wilson and Nelson Cox were present for the vote. They said the absent commissioners, Dale Walker and Larry Schaapman, also agreed. "This is a...