Related News
Related News
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Upgrades to Eugene's downtown electric network continue
You may have noticed construction this week on the corner of 7th and Pearl Street. That’s because crews replaced a corroded, aging vault with an innovative, new Voltek vault. The Voltek design allows for the new infrastructure to be built inside of the existing aging vault. We’re able to install the new vault while the cables are still energized, minimizing disruption to customers and traffic while cutting construction time in half.
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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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Fixing the Unseen: Water Pipeline Replacement in Unincorporated Eugene
Learn more about EWEB's methods for monitoring and replacing aged water pipelines.
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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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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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EWEB achieves power restoration milestone over the weekend
Crews have so far restored power for 92% of customers who originally lost power at the height of the ice storm.
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Reenergized McKenzie River Valley transmission lines allow EWEB crews to restore power upriver
On Friday, a majority of EWEB crews tackled power restoration efforts upriver, after federally managed transmission lines were reenergized Thursday.
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EWEB estimates one week to complete power system restoration
On Wednesday, EWEB crews restored power for about 10,000 customers by repairing large equipment first.
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Second round of ice and ensuing thaw prompt mass power outages
On Wednesday, all EWEB crews, who have been working nonstop since Saturday, traversed EWEB’s service territory assessing the damage and restoring transmission lines and main power feeders.
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Power restored at EWEB’s water treatment plant
Crews restored electric power at EWEB's Hayden Bridge Water Filtration Plant Monday evening, allowing operators to switch off the generators and rely again on the grid. Meanwhile, EWEB crews brace for additional outages amidst second round of ice and during the coming thaw.
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EWEB crews making downed lines safe and restoring power across Eugene and the foothills
As EWEB works to restore electric service to customers affected by the ice storm, the customer-owned utility is following established policies and its “hierarchy of repair” to prioritize repairs that restore electric service to the greatest number of customers.
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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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Pond Conversion Almost Complete
May 15, 2016
After almost two years of extensive planting to establish native trees, shrubs and wetland plant species at the Walterville Pond five miles east of Springfield, the conversion from a man-made pond to a naturalized wetland is nearly complete.
The restoration project started in 2014 to improve the natural habitat value while retaining the area's recreational benefits. EWEB built the pond several years after completing the Walterville Canal to store water to supplement generation at its Walterville Powerhouse. Use of the pond for power generation ceased several decades ago, but the utility continued to maintain water levels by pumping water from the adjacent canal. The 4-mile-long canal diverts water from theMcKenzie River to the power plant, located on Camp Creek Road.
In 2012, federal dam safety regulators classified the pond as a "high hazard" facility after concluding it could cause a breach or a potentially catastrophic failure of the canal embankment. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission worried a rupture at the pond or the canal presented a public safety risk and the danger of significant property damage to the Walterville community, so EWEB at that time did some initial lowering.
In 2014, EWEB started loweringthe pond in increments twice a year with the goal of bringingit near the water level in the canal. The gradual lowering, coupled with a planting scheme that includes ash andPonderosa trees, along with native shrubs such as willow and dogwood, and native wetland species, allowed the warm-water fish and animals to adjust to a smaller pond while retaining the recreational and natural habitat benefits the area provides.
"We wanted to establish native plant material that cancompete with the ubiquitous reed canary grass and other invasives," said Kris Stenshoel, EWEB's vegetation compliance coordinator.
"By plugging, planting and seeding around newly exposed soil that appeared as the water level dropped, we are able to colonize the area with native plant species," he said, addingthat he's seen a greater diversity of animals make use of the area.
Federal regulators will inspect the pond this month and make a decision on the final water level. If they approve of the current pond elevation, EWEB will cease pumping, and the water level will remain high during the wet months and drop about 12 inches during the summer - much like a natural wetland.