
Electric Outage: 1-844-484-2300
Water Emergency: 541-685-7595
EWEB Main: 541-685-7000
Using fireworks near power lines could lead to a fire, explosion, power outage or downed line.
Find Out MoreEWEB will continue the annual closure of our College Hill Reservoir over the Fourth of July holiday and prohibit fireworks on the property grounds.
Find Out MoreAs part of EWEB's relicensing requirements for the Carmen-Smith Hydroelectric Project, we are reducing the risk of birds colliding with electricity.
Find Out MoreOn June 18, with the help of community neighbors, EWEB inaugurated a new emergency water station at the Lane County Fairgrounds.
Find Out MoreAs a public utility, it is important EWEB check in with customers to see how we are performing. We invite you to share your feedback and opinions.
Find Out MoreOn April 12, EWEB dispatched a two-person crew with a bucket truck to assist with repairs and restoring electric service for Columbia River Public Utility District, which serves customers in Columbia County, north of Portland.
Find Out MoreEWEB is moving forward with analyzing four options to remediate the Leaburg Canal, ranging from full decommissioning to complete restoration, with two options in between.
Find Out MoreAs a public utility, owned by the people of Eugene, it’s important for us to be open and transparent with our customer-owners. The following State of the Utility Address, delivered by General Manager Frank Lawson at the March 1 EWEB Board meeting, highlights key events, accomplishments and challenges of 2021.
Find Out MoreHere’s an hour of one-time tasks and a few more behavior change goals that will help you reduce your water use, save energy, lower your carbon footprint and save money on your EWEB bill!
Find Out MoreStarting late night Sunday night, an intense windstorm blew over trees and caused just over 2,600 Eugene Water & Electric Board customers to lose power. But EWEB line crews working through the dark hours of the night and early morning promptly restored service for nearly all those customers.
Find Out MoreTwo Eugene Water & Electric Board line crews will spend the New Year holiday weekend through next week restoring power to thousands of Pacific Gas & Electric customers in northeast California after winter storms dumped more than 10 feet of snow in the Lake Tahoe area starting before Christmas.
Find Out MoreSeveral hundred customers have been restored, but the smaller outages with five or fewer customers may not be restored until Tuesday or Wednesday.
Find Out MoreWith the National Weather Service predicting snow for the Eugene area Sunday through Tuesday, we want to remind customers that the expected snow could bring trees and branches down onto overhead power lines and cause electric outages.
Find Out MoreNew programs provide customers opportunities to invest in local environment, watershed protection, and future climate scientists
Find Out MoreHere in Eugene, where we are fortunate to have one of the cleanest power portfolios in the nation, electrification presents opportunities to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and support climate recovery goals.
Find Out MoreThe energy crisis in Texas has grabbed the attention of the nation. As Texas struggles to restore electricity to millions, locals may be wondering if a similar crisis could happen here, and what utility operators and individuals can do to prepare for unprecedented weather events.
Is EWEB prepared for a major winter storm?
While no utility can be 100 percent prepared for a major disaster, we have worked hard to prepare for winter storms. After the 2016 ice storm that knocked out power for more than 20,000 EWEB customers for multiple days, we took several steps to "harden" the electric system. We completed more than a dozen reliability projects that involved removing crossarms, reconfiguring older overhead power lines with new, higher-capacity cable that requires only one wire, and converting some lines from overhead to underground.
To help prevent tree-related outages, we trim around 300 line miles of vegetation annually.
Other major investments include our new Holden Creek Substation and improving transmission lines that enable us to move power from local generating resources to critical facilities, such as hospitals and public safety agencies, in an emergency.
While many tend to focus on electric outages, there is also a risk of water service disruption in an emergency. Again, EWEB has been working for several years on water reliability projects including renovating the Hayden Bridge Water Filtration Plant, replacing water mains, and developing neighborhood emergency water stations. We now have five operational emergency water sites throughout Eugene and two additional sites are planned.
How are the power outages in Texas different from the weather-related outages that were happening at the same time here in Oregon?
The recent outages in Portland and Salem were caused by ice bringing down trees and powerlines, similar to what happened in Eugene in 2016. In Texas, the power outages were caused by supply issues. In other words, here in Oregon, utilities had power available, but because poles and lines were down, they couldn't deliver the electricity to homes and businesses. In Texas, they didn't have enough power to meet the demand.
Why didn't Texas have enough power?
In a nutshell, the demand for power was greater than the supply. The unprecedented cold temperatures caused residents to crank up electric heaters. At the same time, freezing temperatures crippled many of the state's power plants.
What are some key differences between the Texas grid and power supply compared to Oregon?
From a supply perspective, both states have a diverse resource mix, but Oregon has a great deal more hydro generation. The key difference is the design of our respective power grids. Texas' electric grid is fairly isolated from the rest of the country. In Oregon, we are part of the Western grid, which connects 11 states plus the Canadian provinces of Alberta and British Columbia. The interconnection of the western grid not only provides diverse resources (hydro, wind, solar and more) but also allows utilities to share power across a vast transmission system to help balance supply and demand.
If a statewide deep freeze was the downfall of the Texas grid, what kind of extreme natural event(s) could throw our local grid into crisis?
West coast heat and dry conditions are problems for the western grid. Hot, dry conditions can not only create peak demand events that tax the grid but also can spark wildfires. In California, blackouts have become a common occurrence due to wildfire risk. Here in Oregon, Public Safety Power Shutoffs (PSPS) could become more common as climate change increases the risk of extreme weather events.
Could extreme weather events affect the availability of power for EWEB customers?
Possibly. With our wealth of hydroelectric sources and an interconnected grid across the west, EWEB customers have been relatively well-protected from widespread power shortages, even during surges in demand. However, the climate crisis is likely to create longer, hotter summers and reduced snowpack, limiting the power generation of northwest hydro. Western coal plant retirements could exacerbate the problem. Replacing coal while maintaining reliability may require a combination of renewable resources and an economic source of firm capacity, such as natural gas.
What are EWEB and other utilities doing to prepare the grid?
Here in the northwest, EWEB is part of an organized effort involving multiple utilities to ensure that collectively we have adequate power resources and reliable systems across the region. At the same time, there are many proactive steps being taken across the west to decarbonize the grid while improving resiliency, including adding capacity, coordinating markets, and increasing transmission flexibility. However, these changes will bring additional costs and we must find the balance point between resiliency and overall cost. The purpose of EWEB's Electricity Supply Planning work is to understand tradeoffs and make smart investment choices given future uncertainty.
How can EWEB customers contribute to a more stable, resilient grid?
Improving the overall energy efficiency of your home is critical. Homes with efficient heating systems and good insulation use less energy, which can be important in extreme weather events. Using less electricity during peak usage times can also benefit our local grid and power resources. Shifting energy use to "off-peak" can be as simple as running the dishwasher, charging your electric car, or doing the laundry later at night (after 9 p.m.) or mid-day (between noon and 5 p.m.). EWEB offers rebates and loans for your home or rental property that can help offset the upfront cost to upgrade windows, insulation, and appliances.
What else can customers do to prepare for a prolonged power outage?
Emergencies can happen at any time and it's important to prepare. Create an emergency kit with several days of food, water, cash, fuel, and other essentials. The Oregon Office of Emergency Management encourages residents to be prepared to be on their own for a minimum of two weeks. Having a well-insulated home can also help keep you safe and comfortable for a longer period of time in the event of a prolonged outage. Find more emergency preparedness tips and sign up for EWEB's Pledge to Prepare.
4200 Roosevelt Blvd.
Eugene, OR 97402
800-841-5871
541-685-7000
Open Monday-Friday
Phone hours: 9 a.m. - 6:30 p.m.