Preparing for the NEXT CENTURY - Eugene Water & Electric Board

2 EWEB: PREPARING FOR THE NEXT CENTURY
EWEB: Where history
and the future meet
EWEB headquarters along the Willamette River.
BRYAN WESEL
Focus on the future.
That’s been a hallmark of the Eugene
Water & Electric Board during its 95-year
history. It was true during the first meeting
of the Eugene Water Board in a downtown
storefront in 1911, when civic leaders
talked about
how to utilize
surplus
electricity
from the
newly
completed
Walterville
Power Plant to run the city’s street lights.
It remains the primary focus today.
As EWEB marks its 95th year in 2006, the
utility’s staff and elected commissioners
are not dwelling on the past. Instead,
they are preparing for the next century of
operation as Oregon’s largest citizen-owned
municipal utility.
Several important initiatives are under
way that will ensure EWEB remains a wellrun
and efficient public utility with reliable
electricity, excellent water and innovative
services that provide value for each dollar
spent by the utility’s 85,000 customerowners.
“The next few years will be a critical
time for EWEB,” says General Manager
Randy Berggren. “EWEB has a long
history of serving the public good, and
the initiatives we are undertaking now
will serve our customers for the next
100 years with the
same ethic of public
ownership, accountability,
service, innovation and
responsiveness.”
Most notable on
this list of initiatives is
relocation of EWEB’s field
operations to a new site in west Eugene.
The utility’s administrative staff will
remain in the current headquarters building
along the Willamette River. But as early as
next year, EWEB will begin construction
of a new water and electric operations
building, vehicle shops and other facilities
to serve the engineers and field crews who
keep the lights on and water coming out of
the tap (See story, Page 5).
This special section is intended to give
readers of The Register-Guard an overview
of these major initiatives, along with a
strong dose of EWEB’s rich history for
perspective.
Some of the other initiatives and
programs highlighted in this section are:
■ On the heels of a new operating license
for EWEB's two oldest power plants,
Leaburg and Walterville, the utility will
submit a license renewal application
in November for its largest source of
electricity, the Carmen-Smith Hydroelectric
Project. Relicensing Carmen-Smith in 2008
will ensure that EWEB customers continue
to enjoy a reliable source of lower-cost
electricity.
■ EWEB continues to acquire wind power
and other sources of clean, renewable
energy. In 1999, EWEB became the first
public utility in Oregon to build a wind
farm and offer an innovative “windpower”
option for customers. The utility has
signed contracts to purchase additional
windpower, is investing
in new “fish-friendly”
hydropower and soon
may add geothermal
power to its "portfolio"
of energy sources.
■ Thirty years ago,
EWEB's leadership
launched an era of energy
conservation in the Pacific