
Electric Outage: 1-844-484-2300
Water Emergency: 541-685-7595
EWEB Main: 541-685-7000
The Eugene Water & Electric Board (EWEB) is expanding its capacity to provide water to customers in case of an emergency.
Find Out MoreEWEB is already in compliance with a new proposed federal rule that would require municipalities to test for PFAs, or forever chemicals, in drinking water. The good news for EWEB customers is that in over ten years of testing we have not found PFAs in our water.
Find Out MoreTo maintain the reliability customers have come to know and trust, EWEB must address an aging infrastructure bubble.
Find Out MoreEWEB General Manager Frank Lawson delivered his annual State of the Utility Address at the March 7 public Board of Commissioners meeting.
Find Out MoreGreenpower Grants, a program funded by voluntary Greenpower customer subscriptions is currently accepting applications. The grant will fund a high-impact project that increase the use of renewable energy sources, the adoption of emerging technologies, clean energy education and reduce or offset our community's carbon footprint.
Find Out MoreFor the past year, EWEB’s electric division has been preparing for a complete reconstruction of the Currin substation. Quite simply, it’s reached the end of its useful life.
Find Out MoreWith cold and icy weather forecasted for the next several days, we want to share some tips on how to heat your home while still conserving energy. We also have tips on how to stay warm if there is a power outage at your home.
Find Out MoreEWEB is building two 7.5-million-gallon water storage tanks on a 10-acre property at East 40th and Patterson Street in South Eugene. The tanks are part of our work to improve EWEB’s water storage infrastructure for future resiliency to earthquakes and climate change. People who live nearby have been watching the progress of the work since summer 2021.
Find Out MoreEWEB has awarded nearly $125,000 in grant funds to local organizations that promote electric mobility and reduce community carbon emissions.
Find Out MoreGrantees in the McKenzie River Valley can receive up to $35,000 each
Find Out MoreCollaborating with the City of Eugene, a Climate Guidebook, and priorities for upriver EWEB customers were the main topics at the Feb. 7 Board of Commissioners meeting. The five-member Board serves without pay and is elected by EWEB customers. Their job is to establish policies and values and set EWEB’s long-term direction. Board meetings are open to the public and include opportunities for public comment.
Find Out MoreYou may have noticed a plaque along the sidewalk on East 4th Avenue near the entrance to the employee parking lot at EWEB’s former headquarters building. It commemorates Wiley Griffon. He’s not considered the first Black resident of Eugene. But he is the first one mentioned by name, according to scholars.
Find Out MoreWorld Pulses Day is celebrated on February 10, and is a day to celebrate and spread information on the environmental and personal health benefits of pulses, aka beans, peas and lentils.
Find Out MoreEugene has some of the best drinking water in the world. That’s thanks to our source, the pristine McKenzie River. It’s also thanks to the people at EWEB; whether an engineer designing a new reservoir, a treatment plant operator ensuring the safety and quality of drinking water, or a member of a crew maintaining the infrastructure in our community, water professionals work around the clock to ensure tap water is there when you need it.
Find Out MoreThe Eugene City Council approved the purchase of EWEB's former riverfront headquarters property at a meeting on Jan. 30. The terms of the deal state that the City of Eugene will purchase the 4.4-acre property, which includes two buildings and parking lots, for $12 million.
Find Out MoreJanuary 03, 2022
Starting 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. By 9 a.m. Monday, only about a dozen customers remained without power. All were restored by noon.
“Our electric system is reliable, but sometimes weather conditions cause outages that we can’t prevent. What we can control is how quickly we get the power back on, so long as access to the damage areas and the safety of crews allows,” said Tyler Nice, EWEB’s electric operations manager.
“We know how much our customers rely on power for their homes and businesses, which is why our crews are always ready to fix the issue, no matter the time of day or night, or the conditions,” he said.
Sunday’s windstorm arrived on the heels of the snowstorm that started in the evening of Dec. 26 and lasted for a couple days. Several inches of snow fell, cracking trees and knocking out power for more than 850 customers. But fast action by our crews working through the snowy, icy conditions ensured that the power was restored for nearly all customers by the evening of Dec. 28.
“Mother Nature’s holiday gift to EWEB’s line crews included some long hours getting the power back on for our customers, but at least we had a respite between these two storms,” said John Latourette, EWEB's line supervisor.
Trimming trees to reduce outage risk
In addition to responding quickly to service disruptions, EWEB reduces the risk of outages by trimming vegetation near electric lines along an average of 300 miles each year. Trees are a valued part of the urban landscape, but they are a major cause of power outages in the Eugene area. This proactive vegetation management significantly reduces the number and severity of weather-caused outages.
Since 2007, we have earned the National Arbor Day Foundation's Tree Line USA award each year in recognition of our efforts to protect and enhance Eugene's urban forests while delivering reliable energy service.
In the McKenzie River Valley, where rural customers rely on electricity to both heat their homes and power their drinking water wells, trees can be especially problematic, taking down power lines and making roads impassable for repair crews.
This fall, EWEB used a helicopter with massive saw attachments to trim trees along the Carmen-Smith transmission line, which connects EWEB to the Bonneville Power Administration’s transmission system and brings electricity from the EWEB-owned Carmen-Smith hydropower project to the Eugene area. That trimming reduced the risk of failure along the Carmen-Smith line during recent storms.
But not all trees that cause outages are controlled by EWEB. Many stand outside of EWEB’s right-of-way, so our crews can’t trim or remove them. The utility relies on individuals or other agencies to manage vegetation on private property for electrical safety and reliability.
Underground lines only part of the solution
While falling trees can bring down above-ground power lines, underground power lines face their own issues. When underground lines fail, it often takes crews longer to fix the issue and restore service.
After the 2016 ice storm, EWEB applied for and received grant funding from the Federal Emergency Management Agency for resiliency projects that included converting some overhead lines to underground lines, including along Blanton Road and on East 50th Avenue between Willamette and Fox Hollow.
Other lines across the EWEB’s service area were reconfigured so that power lines requiring two wires were converted to a higher capacity cable requiring just one wire. This change eliminates the need for cross arms, which are vulnerable to falling trees and are a common culprit in outages.
FEMA provided 75% of the funding, or about $3 million, and EWEB covered the rest.
Staying prepared for emergencies
Emergency outages can occur at any time due to extreme weather, an unpredictable earthquake or other causes. It’s important to always be prepared.
Community members interested in learning more about how to prepare for potential disasters can sign up for our Pledge to Prepare program, which is a 12-month blueprint to prepare participants and their households to be ready for a two-week emergency.
Each month, participants will receive an email with a small list of supplies to gather and tasks to complete, so that by year’s end they are ready to live without public services for two weeks, which is the minimum amount of time recommended by the Oregon Office of Emergency Management. Sign up here.
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Mailing Address: 4200 Roosevelt Blvd., Eugene, OR 97402
Phone: 541-685-7000
Toll free: 800-841-5871
Email: eweb.answers@eweb.org
Customer service phone hours: 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday - Friday