News - Page 4

Grant PUD plans to spread some powerful fun throughout Grant County this year through the North Central Washington Libraries’ free 2024 Summer Program.

(Note: Work continues on a new system for posting commission audio. When the audio is availble for this and previous meetings we'll post it and add timestamps in each respective recap. Sorry, again, for the delay.)

Grant PUD Commissioners learned Tuesday that the Washington State Auditor’s Office found three issues during a recent audit of utility’s compliance with the Clean Energy Transformation Act (CETA) from Jan. 1, 2019 through Dec. 31, 2021. This was Grant PUD’s first compliance audit for CETA which was enacted into Washington state law on May 7, 2019.     

EPHRATA – Grant PUD commissioners announced today during their monthly workshop that Rich Wallen will remain as the utility’s Chief Executive Officer/General Manager. 

Note: We're still working through a new process for posting the commission audio. We'll add timestamps and audio as soon as we can. Very sorry for the delay.Grant PUD’s Irrigation Service Rate 3 would be rebranded as “Agricultural Service” and expanded to include separate categories for electricity used for irrigation and other ag activities — if further study proves it financially viable.

EPHRATA – Rich Wallen, Grant PUD general manager/chief executive officer, has announced his resignation from the utility. The resignation, which was given to Grant PUD’s Board of Commissioners on May 7, is effective on June 14. 

Note: The commission recording is delayed this week due to technical issues.We're working to get it posted ASAP.

Join Grant PUD commissioners for a discussion about the unprecedented growth in electric demand this utility is facing and factors that should most influence the way we set our customers’ electric rates.

Commissioners Tuesday learned how Grant PUD has been able to extend its message and priorities through power industry collaboration during a report given by Chuck Allen, Senior Manager of External Affairs and Communications and Annette Lovitt, Public Affairs Officer – Community Relations.

From left, Commissioners Tom Flint, Terry Pyle, Larry Schaapman and Judy Wilson return to Grant PUD’s Ephrata Headquarters after taking the District’s new all-electric Ford 150 Lightning for a spin

Riding on Lightning

During their Feb. 27, 2024 meeting, Grant PUD Commissioners:

—  Heard from Aaron Kuntz, Senior Manager of the Enterprise Project Management Office that:

(This op-ed represents the shared opinion of Grant, Chelan, and Douglas PUD in support of hydropower and the lower four Snake River dams. Originally released 02/01/2024)Affordable, plentiful energy is the root of a society that enables economic growth. It’s easy to forget our community’s biggest asset even though it affects everything we do. Now more than ever, our customers need to understand hydropower’s role in the rapidly changing energy landscape, and how we’re preparing for the future.

Commissioners Tuesday urged Grant PUD staff to move more quickly to acquire or otherwise build new generation to meet the energy needs of new and existing customers.

Thank you, field crews, for your exceptional service

Commissioners Tuesday approved a 3% average increase to electric-rate revenue, effective starting April 1, 2024.

On Jan. 23, Grant PUD Commissioners approved new electrical service rates for our customers. The new rates, which includes an overall 3% increase, with specific allocations for each customer group will begin on April 1, 2024. To learn more about the decision making behind the rate increase read our recap of the Jan. 23 commission meeting. Below you’ll find answers to general questions we have received about the rate increase during our public meetings and individual discussions with customers.

For immediate release: Help Grant PUD by reducing your energy use 

The band Bachman Turner Overdrive lit up the Roseland Ballroom stage in New York City a decade ago with a rockin’ performance of their classic anthem “Takin’ Care of Business” to a euphoric live audience. The band’s guest keyboardist — Paul Shaffer, of David Letterman Show fame — supercharged the song’s finale by tipping his electronic organ on its end, spinning it around so the keys faced the audience and playing it vertically. And that is exactly the YouTube video that Grant PUD Commission President Tom Flint chose to “set the tone” for 2024 at the year’s first commission meeting, Tuesday.

External Affairs shares outreach successes in 2023

Project managers are crediting teamwork and a new cloud-based tool for project scheduling, resource management and performance monitoring for shaving thousands of work hours off the rehab of a fifth turbine/generator unit at Priest Rapids Dam and finishing the big project 38 days ahead of schedule.