Related News
Related News
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The Big Freeze 2024: After Action Report
Winter 2024 was one for the records books, and we'll look back on it for years to come and say, "That was a doozy!" The back-to-back January Ice Storms caused widespread damage to EWEB’s service territory, affecting approximately 38,000 customers. Preliminary repair costs were over $8 million, and additional repairs to transmission lines are still required.
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New tanks come online as EWEB modernizes water system
New drinking water storage tanks are one of several investments to ensure that EWEB can meet critical community needs in the event of an earthquake.
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Celebrate Earth Month by taking charge of your home's energy use
This Earth Month, learn how you can reduce your energy usage to help protect our planet and reduce carbon emissions.
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Spring Cleaning? How about Spring Emergency Preparedness!
Spring is officially here and that means the plants are blooming, the sun is (sometimes) shining, and the grass is green! We've had our fair share of severe weather already, but spring weather is notoriously unpredictable. While you're in the midst of spring cleaning and garden care, consider completing these emergency preparedness tasks.
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EWEB General Manager Delivers 2024 State of the Utility
General Manager Frank Lawson delivered his address at the March 5 public Board of Commissioners meeting
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State of the McKenzie Watershed
EWEB’s Drinking Water Source Protection (DWSP) team says the McKenzie River continues to be an excellent source for drinking water.
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Nine days without power: My ice storm story as an EWEB customer and employee
While beautiful and peaceful, buying a home on the edge of the forest and surrounded by trees has its tradeoffs. Moving “upriver,” I knew there would be more threats to prepare for, including Mother Nature’s seasonal surprises.
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Leaburg Decommissioning Action Plan
Plan details next steps through regulatory processes to begin dismantling Leaburg Dam by 2032.
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What’s ahead in 2024: General manager’s message to EWEB customer-owners
At the start of the new year, we back at accomplishments from 2023 and look ahead at what's to come in 2024.
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Start the New Year saving money with energy saving tips
We know that saving money is important to our customers. Using energy and water wisely is a great way to reduce your monthly utility bill, even as the costs of electricity and water rise. EWEB has several steps you can take to reduce your usage and even make your home feel more comfortable.
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Currin Substation: End of year update
EWEB Engineer Philip Peterson explains what's been happening in the final stretch to complete the substation rebuild.
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EWEB 2023 year in review
In 2023, EWEB invested in our community with grants, rebates and an array of other programs and measures aimed at fulfilling our core values of safety, reliability, affordability, environmental responsibility and community/culture.
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EWEB Recognized with Excellence in Communications Awards from American Public Power Association
We are proud to have been recognized with two Excellence in Public Power Communications Awards for 2023 from the American Public Power Association (APPA).
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EWEB To Hold First of Two Public Hearings on Proposed 2024 Budget and Prices
At the Nov. 7 Board of Commissioners meeting, EWEB staff will present a proposed budget that includes rate increases necessary to support utility operations and make needed infrastructure investments.
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EWEB now offering a Smart Thermostat rebate program
EWEB is excited to announce a new residential rebate program to provide electric customers with free or greatly discounted Smart Thermostats to customers whose primary source of heating is from an electric forced-air furnace or heat pump.
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Largest transformer order in EWEB history begins “New Era” of substation rebuilds
February 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.”
“New Era” for EWEB substations
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.
Supply chain shortages and long delivery windows impact planning
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.
Your rates play a role in infrastructure improvements
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.