Related News
Related News
-
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.
Find Out More -
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.
Find Out More -
EWEB’s heat driven call to conserve energy yields major savings
EWEB is likely to implement similar, formalized “demand response” programs in the future.
Find Out More -
Please join your neighbors in reducing energy use today
With excessive temperatures and wildfire conditions affecting power generation across the region, EWEB is encouraging customers to safely conserve power.
Find Out More -
Women in STEM: Meet our servant leader and maker of tough decisions
Karen Kelley, Chief Operations Officer at EWEB, describes herself as a "servant leader," offering support and mentoring to four division managers at EWEB.
Find Out More -
Planning for a Reliable, Affordable, Green Energy Future
EWEB General Manager Frank Lawson publishes an op-ed in the Eugene Weekly about EWEB's IRP.
Find Out More -
Women in STEM: Meet the woman responsible for managing our wholesale energy agreements to ensure we meet our customers energy needs
Megan Capper, the Energy Resource Manager at EWEB, began her career working in economics at BPA before joining the power planning department EWEB, ensuring we can meet the energy needs of our our customers today, tomorrow and 20 years from now.
Find Out More -
Substations – The resilient spine of EWEB’s electric system
The substation redundancy ensures reliable power continues to flow to homes and businesses despite unexpected equipment failures and routine maintenance.
Find Out More -
EWEB charts energy supply choices for next 2-3 years
After 18 months of study to assess Eugene’s future electricity needs, EWEB has identified next steps to pursue in the next two to three years.
Find Out More -
Wildfire season is here – tips and safety precautions
Temperatures are heating up with weather forecasts anticipating temperatures up to 99 degrees in Eugene and the surrounding areas on the 4th of July.
Find Out More -
June 2021 Heat Dome broke records for temperature – but not energy use, EWEB analysis finds
The extreme temperatures from two years ago show the need for EWEB to choose energy sources based on best fit.
Find Out More -
Currin Substation - the origin of the name
Hugh Currin was hired as an engineer at EWEB in 1923. Later, he became the chief engineer for the utility.
Find Out More -
Hydrogen’s decarbonization potential discussed at EWEB Board meeting
The simplest, lightest, most abundant element in the universe – hydrogen – could play a key role in decarbonizing society, EWEB's Board learned at recent meeting.
Find Out More -
EWEB could need additional low-carbon, on-demand electricity, new analysis shows
Quickly rising electricity demand could require EWEB to acquire zero-carbon firm resources such as biomass or nuclear plants.
Find Out More -
EWEB Safety Tip: Celebrate responsibly with balloons
If your graduation celebration involves balloons, make sure they are secured with a weight. Otherwise, they can float away and come into contact with overhead power lines.
Find Out More - Show More
EWEB Will Retain Stone Creek Hydro Project under New Management Contracts
May 12, 2020
Owned by EWEB since 1994, Stone Creek is a small but mighty hydro generation project on the Clackamas River approximately 45 miles southeast of Portland. Historically the facility has been operated and maintained for EWEB by Portland General Electric, but in late 2019, PGE notified EWEB that they would no longer operate the plant due to changes in their corporate strategy.
Stone Creek is a run-of-the-river project capable of producing 12 megawatts of power. For reference, EWEB's largest owned power source, the Carmen-Smith Hydroelectric Project on the McKenzie River, has a capacity of 114 megawatts, enough electricity to power 16,000 homes per year.
"Though a relatively small generation facility, Stone Creek has consistently provided positive revenues to EWEB customers and is a reliable producer of carbon-free, local hydropower for Eugene and the region," said EWEB General Manager Frank Lawson.
With the operations and maintenance contract between EWEB and PGE about to expire, EWEB Commissioners at the May 5 Board meeting, approved two separate agreements that will keep Stone Creek providing clean, reliable power to EWEB customers.
The first is a five-year Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA) with Energy Northwest to operate the hydroelectric plant and the transmission line running from the plant to EWEB's Harriet Lake Substation. The second agreement is a 10-year contract with Portland General Electric to operate the transmission line that ties the Harriet Substation into PGE's Oak Grove Substation, where the output from Stone Creek ties into the regional grid.
"I'm probably one of the few people that remembers when this project was initiated," said EWEB Commissioner Dick Helgeson, who represents customers in South Eugene Wards 2 and 3 and is a retired EWEB executive with 32 years prior utility experience. "In my experience, this has been one of the better small hydro projects that EWEB has invested in over the years."
Hydroelectric plants are carbon-free generation resources. Because it's fueled by water, the Northwest's hydropower base does not produce air pollution or greenhouse gas emissions. Nearly 80 percent of Eugene's power comes from hydroelectric projects.
EWEB is licensed by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to operate Stone Creek through 2038. In addition to Stone Creek, EWEB customers own three McKenzie River hydro generation projects: Leaburg and Walterville hydroelectric projects, and Carmen-Smith.
Decisions such as retaining the Stone Creek project are part of EWEB's ongoing Electricity Supply Planning effort, a process that helps utilities understand the resources, technology, and infrastructure that will be needed to meet customers' future electricity needs.
"The most significant decisions confronting EWEB in the next decade involve sources of supply," said Frank Lawson. "We are looking at factors such as climate change and evolving customer expectations, and making generation resources choices that not only meet today's needs but also provide flexibility for serving our community under a variety of future conditions."
Watch a short video clip of Frank Lawson describing some of the benefits of the Stone Creek Project.