
Electric Outage: 1-844-484-2300
Water Emergency: 541-685-7595
EWEB Main: 541-685-7000
The EWEB Board of Commissioners meet on the first Tuesday of the month.
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 has awarded nearly $125,000 in grant funds to local organizations that promote electric mobility and reduce community carbon emissions.
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 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 MoreAt EWEB, we do what we can to help others in need. That’s been the reality for several of our electric and water crews over the past few weeks as we’ve responded to mutual aid requests for storm response and drinking water restoration, locally, and out of state.
Find Out MoreAfter evaluating several proposals and opportunities, EWEB is focusing its negotiations to sell the former riverfront headquarters property to the City of Eugene. The exact terms and details of the deal will be negotiated during the next few weeks.
Find Out MoreDespite an ice storm and a few windstorms in Eugene and the McKenzie Valley in the past few weeks, EWEB has so far fended off widespread weather-caused power outages – largely because of investments in year-round system maintenance and infrastructure improvements.
Find Out MoreEWEB makes electric mobility available to anyhone though e-bike rebates, car sharing and grants for local organizations with electric mobility projects.
Find Out MoreEnergy Efficiency tips to help you reduce your energy usage for National Cut your Energy Costs Day
Find Out MoreThe EWEB Board of Commissioners started off their first meeting of 2023 by choosing a new board president and vice president.
Find Out MoreFebruary 03, 2023 • Robyn Smith, EWEB Communications
Do you remember the great toilet paper shortage of 2020? Do you remember the scavenged shelves, the sign stating the limited quantity you could buy, and the anxiety of turning down the aisle to emptiness? Unlike toilet paper, there are many commodities nationwide still impacted by pandemic-related supply chain shortages, including electric distribution transformers, cable, and other critical infrastructure equipment.
EWEB has been diligent in finding creative ways to minimize the impact of equipment supply shortages, so that in a pinch, we’re not turning down the aisle to empty shelves.
In January, our elected Board of Commissioners approved an agreement for EWEB to make an unprecedented bulk purchase of substation transformers.
“This bid secures up to 13 transformers for us over the next five years,” said Philip Peterson, EWEB systems engineer. “I’ve been at EWEB for 15 years and we’ve never purchased more than 4 transformers in a single bid before.”
Substation transformers are a critical piece of the national electrical grid. They change, or “step down,” high voltage from power generation stations to levels that can be safely distributed to homes and businesses.
Transformers typically have a lifespan of around 35 years, depending on how they are operated, loaded, and the conditions they are installed in. Most EWEB substations were built in the 1970s during a building boom that expanded EWEB service territory, putting many of our transformers over 40 years of age, even a few reaching 70 years old.
EWEB plans to address this aging bubble of infrastructure with 10 major substation rebuilds in the next 10 years that will increase load capacity to ensure we meet future needs and improve reliability by avoiding outages due to equipment failure.
“Most of our substations were born out of the 1970s and at that point we did a good job of designing our system with a lot of backups. Customer’s power can be fed from two or three different substations, and that’s kept us going without much rebuilding, but we recognize we’re running on borrowed time,” said Dylan Vulliety, EWEB station wire technician.
The work our crews perform in the next ten years will produce a new generation of EWEB substations, providing reliable power for customers for the next half a century and beyond.
We’re already underway with the Currin Substation near Garden Way and 105, where deconstruction of the old substation has begun and the rebuild is expected to last through 2023 and early 2024.
After 2020, supply chains and delivery windows changed for many industries and utilities were no exception. In 2021, delivery windows for transformers started jumping from one year up to three years and we haven’t seen improvement since.
The approval of this unprecedented bulk purchase of transformers will support future electric reliability projects, including the “10 Substations in 10 Years” objective. The purchase contract allows EWEB to maintain an inventory of spare transformers for unexpected occurrences, reducing equipment downtime and customer impact while avoiding the long delivery windows this equipment takes to procure.
Even with the approval of this purchase, EWEB won’t see inventory from this order delivered until spring 2024, at the earliest.
The electricity we all rely on would not be possible without the infrastructure that delivers it.
From power plants to distribution and transmission lines, substations, and transformers — utility infrastructure is a complex system that requires investment and maintenance to provide constant, reliable power.
The rates you pay to “keep the lights on” facilitate EWEB’s major infrastructure investments through our Capital Improvement Plan for rehabilitating, replacing, and installing new infrastructure, such as substation rebuilds.
Visit eweb.org/rateinfo to learn more about what goes into your EWEB rates and what you get for your money.
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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