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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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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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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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 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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River Road Substation returns to service after infrastructure upgrades
Supply chain shortages and proactive infrastructure investments, including constructing seismic foundations and implementing control modernization, have played a role in the substation's return-to-service timeline.
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Fall is the perfect time to prepare for winter storm season
Winter is coming, which increases the likelihood of storm-related power outages. It's important to be prepared, and there are simple actions you can take right now.
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EWEB seeks public input on electric vehicle, demand response standards
EWEB is seeking public input on the potential adoption of updated standards for electric vehicles (EVs) and demand response programs. The potential standards are derived from the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act, or PURPA.
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Public Power Week Poster Contest 2023
It’s that time of year again! October 1-7 is Public Power Week. To celebrate, EWEB is holding our annual poster contest for fifth graders in our service area. Help us pick the winners.
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Where is EWEB in planning our future electricity supply?
In August, we reached a milestone: EWEB’s five-member elected Board of Commissioners approved an action plan to guide our energy supply choices for the next 2-3 years. How did we get here?
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Women in STEM: EWEB Engineer Laura Ohman's second degree brings a lifetime of benefits
EWEB Engineer Laura Ohman shares how getting her second degree was one of the most difficult and rewarding things she's ever accomplished.
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Planning for a Future of Reliable, Affordable, Environmentally Responsible Energy
The challenges revealed by Eugene Water & Electric Board’s integrated resource planning process mirror those facing the Northwest.
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EWEB’s heat driven call to conserve energy yields major savings
EWEB is likely to implement similar, formalized “demand response” programs in the future.
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Carmen Smith Hydroelectric Project is Preparing For a Very LARGE Delivery
April 13, 2017
Much of the major Carmen Smith powerhouse generating equipment has been in service since 1963, and is operating beyond its expected life span. In late 2016, EWEB submitted an updated relicensing application to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission for review, and while we expect that it will take the rest of 2017 and possibly part of 2018 for FERC to complete and issue the new license, some modernization work is moving forward.
Staff recently completed the overhaul of the powerhouse gantry crane. The gantry crane is necessary for moving large equipment into and out of the powerhouse. The weight of the major powerhouse equipment planned for replacement ranges from 40 tons up to 140 tons. The next big piece of work is replacing two failing turbine shut-off valves.
The turbine shutoff valves at the Carmen Powerhouse stop water flow to the turbines, protecting the equipment from damage and allowing periodic inspection of, and repairs to, the turbines. Recent testing revealed that the existing 55-year-old valves leak at a rate of approximately 3,400 gallons per minute. Because of this, inspection of the turbines has not been possible for three years.
The new replacement valves were forged in Italy and assembled in Switzerland. They will be shipping overseas soon and are expected to arrive on the project at the beginning of June. A plant outage is necessary to accommodate the valve replacement work. The intent is to dewater the power tunnel/penstock system and be ready to start demolition activities shortly after the valves arrive at Carmen.
In addition to modernizing and replacing equipment at the Carmen Powerhouse and elsewhere throughout the hydroelectric generation project, we will make significant improvements to fish passage facilities and habitat, and upgrade Trail Bridge and Lakes End campgrounds. In order to complete the project safely, we closed public access to Trail Bridge and Lakes End campgrounds, the Trail Bridge Reservoir boat launch and Smith Reservoir. Read more about the five-year closures.
The Carmen plant remains valuable as a carbon-free generation resource that can ramp up and down to meet customers' peak energy needs. In other words, Carmen operates when our community needs power the most and when buying that power on the wholesale market would be most expensive. We expect to invest approximately $100 million modernizing the project and making the habitat and recreation improvements.