Preparing for the NEXT CENTURY - Eugene Water & Electric Board

4 EWEB: PREPARING FOR THE NEXT CENTURY
Utility’s roots traced
to typhoid epidemic
A typhoid epidemic that struck Eugene
100 years ago provided the catalyst that
led to the creation of today’s Eugene Water
& Electric Board. When the outbreak
was traced to the private, for-profit water
company, outraged citizens sprang into
action, voting in 1908 to buy the system
and create a municipal, citizen-owned
water utility.
The Eugene City Council ordered the
construction of a hydroelectric power
plant that would run the pumps necessary
to ensure adequate water pressure. When
the Walterville Hydroelectric Plant on the
McKenzie River was completed in 1911,
the City Council transferred control of the
utility to a separate citizen board.
But even before the first meeting of the
Eugene Water Board took place on March
11, 1911, city leaders already were thinking
about more than providing clean, safe water
to the citizens of Eugene.
The Walterville Power Plant generated
plenty of surplus electricity. First, the city
decided to power its streetlights. Then, a
handful of businesses started buying power.
The Eugene Planing Mill on Lawrence
Street, currently the site of the REI store,
became the public utility’s first electric
customer. In 1916, the board purchased the
private Oregon Power Company’s electric
system, positioning the utility as the fullservice
provider it is today.
By 1932, Leaburg Dam and Powerhouse
were completed, providing even more
electricity for our growing community.
The electric utility continued to expand
from those early beginnings. The name
of the Eugene Water Board was officially
changed to the Eugene Water & Electric
Board in 1949. By that time, EWEB had
constructed the steam plant and was
generating electricity from the facility.
The plant later provided steam heat to
most of the downtown area, a practice that
continues today.
Since EWEB’s beginnings 95 years ago,
its elected commissioners and professional
staff have maintained a strong ethic of
public ownership, a belief that water and
electricity are essential products that
should be owned by the people. The words
of former Eugene Mayor Joseph Matlock
hold true today as much as they did nearly
a century ago:
“In my mind, water is associated with
health, light with learning, and it is our aim
that each child, however poor or obscure,
shall have at the minimum cost these two
fundamentals of civilization.”
Early city hall, and first Eugene Water Board
office.
Building a new fish ladder at Leaburg Dam,
2001.
Leaburg Powerhouse.
“In my mind, water is associated with health, light with learning, and
it is our aim that each child, however poor or obscure, shall have at the
minimum cost these two fundamentals of civilization.”
– Former Eugene Mayor Joseph Matlock, 1908