
Electric Outage: 1-844-484-2300
Water Emergency: 541-685-7595
EWEB Main: 541-685-7000
EWEB’s 2021 budget keeps prices steady once again, marking the fifth year in row of no price increase for customers.
Find Out MoreThree EWEB board members were sworn into office on January 5, including two new commissioners.
Find Out MoreHave you ever wondered what happens to the electric grid on Thanksgiving?
Find Out MoreHeavy rain in the McKenzie Valley over the weekend gave EWEB’s water quality team a close look at the potential impacts from the Holiday Farm Fire on source water.
Find Out MoreCrews of young people are helping to protect Eugene’s drinking water by mitigating the impact of post-fire soil erosion along the McKenzie River.
Find Out MoreIn the aftermath of the Holiday Farm Fire, we’re working to protect the safety and security of our community’s sole source of drinking water.
Find Out MoreA team of Pacific Northwest public and private organizations have signed a memorandum of understanding to explore the development of what would be one of the largest renewable hydrogen production facilities in North America.
Find Out MoreEWEB, McKenzie Watershed Council and the Willamette National Forest are collaboratively working on the project, which involves relocating a portion of 115 kV transmission line.
Find Out MoreRunning the air conditioning can cause a blow to the household budget and increase carbon emissions.
Find Out MoreOregon primary elections are next Tuesday, May 19 and ballots include four candidates for three seats on the EWEB Board of Commissioners.
Find Out MoreBased on snowpack data and summer stream forecasts, EWEB will adjust flows into the Walterville canal mid-June through October 2020.
Find Out MoreOwned by EWEB since 1994, Stone Creek is a small but mighty hydro generation project on the Clackamas River.
Find Out MoreEugene Water & Electric Board Commissioners will hold a virtual meeting on Tuesday to adhere to Oregon Gov. Kate Brown’s “Stay Home, Save Lives” executive order to mitigate the spread of the coronavirus.
Find Out MoreI wanted something with enough range to take me out of town for the various camping and fishing trips that I enjoy.
Find Out MoreI am able get all my weekend errands done on one charge, even crossing between west Eugene and east Springfield on the freeway.
Find Out MoreEugene Water & Electric Board is exploring the impacts of widespread electrification on our community. The analysis is intended to address a growing interest in understanding the relationship between fossil fuels and electricity and potential transitions to address climate change.
Phase 1 of EWEB's Electrification Impact Analysis Report focuses on electrification of small vehicles, and domestic water and space heating.
"The context for EWEB doing this study is that climate change strategies around the country and locally tend to focus on electrifying transportation and buildings as a way to meet goals," Chief Energy Officer Susan Ackerman told EWEB Commissioners during the Aug. 4 Board meeting.
At the public meeting, which streamed live online due to the coronavirus pandemic, EWEB presented preliminary results of Phase 1 of the study, including the following key findings:
Under the highest forecasted electrification rates, EWEB could experience load growth of 54 aMW (around 20 percent increase) by 2050. The potential carbon savings by 2030 is around 109,000 MTCO2e.
"What we are learning in this first phase of this study is that EWEB is well-situated to assist the community with climate goals," said Susan Ackerman, noting that these preliminary results represent early findings which are subject to change between now and final publication, scheduled for fall 2020.
Eugene's Climate Action Plan (CAP) 2.0 sets a goal of reducing community carbon emissions by 790,000 MTCO2e by 2030 and identifies a series of actions that will reduce our community's carbon footprint. But the CAP 2.0 actions alone do not reach the 2030 target.
The early results of EWEB's electrification study indicate that aggressive conversion of light-duty vehicles and residential and commercial space and water heating plays a limited role in closing this gap.
"The good news here is that electrification really does lead to carbon savings," said Susan Ackerman. "But even assuming a high level of electrification there is still quite a gap between what we could achieve in terms of carbon reductions and the City of Eugene's climate action goals."
Put another way, EVs and electric space and water heating are only one small part of the solution.
In the coming months, EWEB will refine our assumptions and early estimates that are reflected in the preliminary Phase 1 study. This will include discussions with City of Eugene staff to better understand the basis for EV-related carbon reductions in the CAP 2.0 report.
Three members of the public, including two volunteers with the group 350 Eugene, provided testimony related to the electrification study during the Public Input portion of the Aug. 4 Board meeting. Two comments encouraged studying the impact of solar PV adoption on EWEB's Electricity Supply Planning efforts, and the third comment related to the potential impacts of local electrification on regional greenhouse gas emissions.
Susan Ackerman clarified that these issues will be addressed in later phases of this work, which will include:
One important outcome of the Electrification Impact Analysis is an analytical model that the utility can use for all resource planning and community decarbonization efforts.
"One of the things that this type of modeling and effort will help with is understanding power resource adequacy issues in the northwest under certain conditions, such as low hydrogeneration, coal plant retirements, and growth in local solar generation," said EWEB General Manager Frank Lawson. "In the next phases of this work, we are going to look at different scenarios and changes to the electric supply side going forward, including characteristics and carbon intensity, both of which will look very different by 2050."
VIEW THE PRESENTATION: If you didn't catch the live stream of the Board presentation and discussion, you can view it here (approximately 40 minutes long).
READ THE FULL REPORT: We have posted the complete draft preliminary report online.
FIND RELATED NEWS AND INFORMATION: Visit our Electricity Supply Planning website to learn more about our efforts to understand the resources, technology, and infrastructure that will be needed to meet customers' future electricity needs.
500 East Fourth Ave.
Eugene, OR 97401
800-841-5871
541-685-7000
Open Monday-Friday
Phone hours: 9 a.m. - 6:30 p.m.
Lobby hours: 9 a.m. - 5:30 p.m.