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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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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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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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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Powered by People Like Leah
November 20, 2019
When Leah talks about her daughter, she lights up.
"I was lucky enough to get to stay home with my baby for a year after she was born," says Leah. "It was wonderful, but after a while I needed to get back into the workforce. My husband actually found the posting for the job and since it was similar to what I had done before, I thought it would be an easier transition."
Before having her daughter, Leah worked at SELCO Community Credit Union first as a teller, then in the call center and finally in collections. The EWEB posting her husband pointed out was for a customer service analyst in the contact center, a position Leah has held now for three years.
"We are the front line for EWEB. We take the first calls whenever something's wrong, there's a question on the bill, if someone needs to start/stop service and everything in-between," says Leah. "We can have some really difficult phone calls, but we also get a lot of good ones too. When we are able to successfully help someone it can make our day."
Leah recalls a customer a couple years ago who called to make a payment arrangement. The woman was dealing with the death of her son and had fallen behind on her bill. Leah encouraged her to apply for EWEB's bill assistance program, Customer Care.
"She said there were people out there that needed it more than her," says Leah. "I helped make the payment arrangement like she had requested. But I couldn't stop thinking about her once we had hung up. I knew she wasn't going to contact any of the resources I had given her."
Leah reached out to her supervisor and others in the utility, recounting the customer's difficulty. In the end, using funds from a modest EWEB employee donation program, Leah was able to call the customer letting her know that a payment had been made to her account.
"She was so grateful," says Leah. "We can't always help in this way, but when we can it's really rewarding. I hope customers know how much we care. And that we're really trying our hardest," she adds.
When asked what makes up great customer service, Leah pauses thoughtfully before listing off three qualities: listening before reacting, demonstrating empathy and working together to find answers. After talking with Leah for a bit, they sound pretty familiar.
Thank you Leah, for your role in providing customers with vital services 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.