Related News
Related News
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Sustainability Snapshot - Homes for Good May 2025
Our first Sustainability Snapshop highlights a project where EWEB teamed up with longtime partner, Homes for Good, to deliver ductless heat pumps to income-eligible apartment rentals.
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EWEB environmental specialist wins prestigious awards for publication
Article recounting EWEB’s efforts to protect the McKenzie River after Holiday Farm Fire earns national recognition
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Last Call for EWEB/Lane County Septic Grants
Holiday Farm Fire recovery program now eligible for businesses, residential property owners who purchased post-fire, to cover inspection costs and new construction
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EWEB, Lane County host open house to gather feedback for “Leaburg Transportation Alternatives Analysis”
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EWEB Pilots New Line Safety Program for 4th graders.
This year, EWEB is ramping up power line safety for children, specifically 4th graders.
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Improving habitat resiliency throughout the Upper McKenzie
Environmental Responsibility is a core guiding value for EWEB decision-making. This summer, EWEB continues its commitment to environmental stewardship with a robust slate of habitat enhancement updates throughout the upper McKenzie River, across the footprint of the Carmen-Smith Hydroelectric Project.
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Habitat Restoration Underway on McKenzie River
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Infrastructure upgrades at Nightingale Hosted Shelters made possible through powerful public-nonprofit partnership
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EWEB opens applications for 2025 Electric Mobility Community Grant
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Walterville Hydroelectric Project to remain offline through 2025
EWEB continues to pursue repair plans but must fulfill additional investigation requirements before resuming operation.
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Watch the Recording: Financial Preparedness for Disasters
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Greenpower subscribers vote to award Greenpower Grant to SquareOne Villages
The Greenpower Grant, funded solely by voluntary customer subscriptions, supports local sustainability projects.
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Water professionals showcase skills in Cascade to Coast Competition
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Small number of McKenzie Valley EWEB customers face higher February bills due to estimated reads
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EWEB offers Greenpower Grant to support local sustainability project
The Greenpower Grant, funded by voluntary customer subscriptions to Greenpower, not customer grants, supports projects that advance renewable energy, clean energy education or efforts to reduce or offset local carbon emissions.
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Recovery Moves Forward at EWEB
April 30, 2021
As we continue to recover from the personal, professional, and financial impacts of the coronavirus, EWEB has started sunsetting some of the pandemic relief programs we put in place in March 2020.
Starting May 1, we will resume regular service charges including the $5 late fee on past due balances.
During the early phases of the pandemic, we immediately implemented short-term crisis programs for customers. The pandemic relief programs included temporarily suspending service disconnections and late fees for past due bills, expanding eligibility for EWEB Customer Care bill credits to include those who were unemployed due to the pandemic, and increasing funding for the bill assistance program.
In mid-2020, we began shifting from crisis response to recovery, by offering extended repayment plans with no interest or fees. In August, we resumed standard disconnection procedures for those customers who were behind on their bills and had not enrolled in a repayment plan.
With more people in our community receiving vaccines, workplaces returning to a new normal, and the economy starting to recover, EWEB is winding down remaining programs to ensure the long-term financial health of the utility.
As of May 1, collection fees will be reinstated, and the residential repayment plan is no longer available. The commercial repayment plan will be available for a few more months.
As a customer-owned nonprofit utility, EWEB is not able to continue the expanded assistance programs indefinitely, nor can we simply waive past-due balances. Equity for all customers must be considered in these decisions, and we cannot continue to ask some of our customers to subsidize their neighbors.
Fortunately, EWEB entered this crisis in a strong financial position, after several years of efforts to become more efficient, lower operating costs, and reduce debt. Residential electric prices will not increase due to the extraordinary aid extended during the pandemic, and EWEB's financial health will remain in a secure position. Thanks in part to a healthy financial standing, EWEB is able to increase the Customer Care bill assistance amount from $260 to $280, effective May 1, and to continue other programs, such as incentives to install efficiency improvements that reduce monthly utility bills.
Customers experiencing hardship should contact EWEB. Staff members are available to review accounts and determine what options are available to support you. Our Customer Care program will continue undergoing regular reviews.
Our customer service team is available at 541-685-7000 to help with any questions or assistance needed from 9 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. For more updates and information, visit our COVID-19 information page.