The holiday season is a time for celebrating with family and friends—but it’s also a season that can be especially difficult for many families when it comes to providing consistent, nutritious meals. This year, we at Grant PUD are thrilled to share how our Pay it Forward Fund, facilitated in partnership with our key partner Microsoft and the Columbia Basin Foundation (CBF), helped make the Boys & Girls Club of the Columbia Basin’s first-ever Winter Break Backpack Food Program a reality!

Commissioners each received a copy of a new book on Grant PUD's colorful history, rapid growth, current challenges and future opportunities. It will be provided soon in Grant County libraries, high schools, museums, port districts and other municipal entities. The book, "Powering On: The Can-do Legacy Driving Grant PUD Into the Future," was written by Pacitic Northwest author and hydropower historian John Harrison. Photo, from left, Commissioners Tom Flint, Terry Pyle, Nelson Cox, author Harrison, Commissioners Judy Wilson and Larry Schaapman. Scroll down for more.


2025 budget, 3% rate increase, new rate-setting strategy approved in final commission meeting of the year

Commissioners Tuesday unanimously approved a $312.2 million budget for 2025 and a 3% increase to retail rate revenue effective April 1, 2025.

NOTE: Commission audio will be posted as soon as possible

Commissioners unanimously approved a five-year Purchase Power Agreement with Goose Prairie Solar Development as part of Grant PUD’s plan for powering anticipated growth in the county. Under the agreement, Grant PUD will receive 100-percent of the energy and capacity output of the 80-megawatt Moxee-based generation facility. 

Grant PUD crews were out early Monday, Nov. 18, to determine the cause of a series of outages in the Winchester area.


(Note: Desplácese hacia abajo para español)


Grant PUD crews have worked for days trying to diagnose the cause of a spate of intermittent power outages that have affected the Winchester area, between Quincy and Ephrata, since Nov. 13. As it turns out, the culprit was, in fact, a cow with an itch to scratch.

The first cow-related outage was reported Nov. 13. After days and two complete nights patrolling power lines to search for the problem, crews were out again early Monday, Nov. 18, after another report of a flash seen from area electric equipment. This time, they are fairly sure the outage was caused by one or more cows that had discovered how a guy wire securing an area power pole was an excellent scratching post.

(Updated, 11/20/2024) As a cow rubs against the guy wire for a scratch, it shakes the entire pole, causing the attached power lines to sway and touch each other. This causes an electrical fault and flash that result in an outage. The electric system restores power automatically after a few minutes when the lines settle back into their correct positions and the fault is no longer present. A guy wire attaches to the top of the pole and extends diagonally to the ground, where it's anchored, to help keep the pole upright. The guy wire is not electrified, so no  harm comes to the cow.

Intermittent outages such as these are difficult to diagnose, since power has reset by the time crews get to the location to search for damage.

(Updated, 11/22/2024) Crews didn't observe a cow in the process of scratching, but have seen this happen in the past. Here's a video of shot by one of our crewmen in Quincy in 2022. In the case of the latest flash sighting, a heard of cows were grazing nearby, gleaning from a harvested corn field. Crews' previous inspections ruled out other potential causes.
 
(Updated, 11/20/2024) Grant PUD personnel worked with the property owner to reroute an electric fence to keep the cows away from the guy wire. They are also working to "sectionalize" the feeder, so any future outages will affect fewer customers.

And to everyone affected by these outages, thanks for your patience, as we work to get the lights back on... and keep them on.


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Actualización: Se confirma la hipótesis de la vaca en una serie de apagones de Winchester

Las cuadrillas de Grant PUD han trabajado durante días tratando de diagnosticar la causa de una serie de cortes de energía intermitentes que han afectado el área de Winchester, entre Quincy y Ephrata, desde el 13 de noviembre. Resulta que las culpables eran, de hecho, una o más vacas con ganas de rascarse.

Después de días y al menos una noche completa de patrullar las líneas eléctricas para buscar el problema, las cuadrillas volvieron a salir la madrugada del lunes 18 de noviembre, después de otro informe de un destello visto desde el equipo eléctrico del área. Esta vez, están bastante seguros de que el apagón fue causado por una o más vacas que habían descubierto cómo un cable de sujeción que aseguraba un poste de energía de área era un excelente poste para rascar..

(Actualizado, 20/11/2024) A medida que una vaca se frota contra el cable de sujeción para rascarse, sacude todo el poste, lo que hace que las líneas eléctricas conectadas se balanceen y se toquen entre sí. Esto provoca una falla eléctrica y un destello que resulta en un apagón. El sistema eléctrico restablece la energía automáticamente después de unos minutos cuando las líneas vuelven a sus posiciones correctas y la falla ya no está presente. Un cable de sujeción se conecta a la parte superior del poste y se extiende en diagonal hasta el suelo, donde está anclado, para ayudar a mantener el poste en posición vertical. El cable de sujeción no está electrificado, por lo que la vaca no sufre ningún daño.

Los apagones intermitentes como estos son difíciles de diagnosticar, ya que la energía se ha restablecido cuando los equipos llegan al lugar para buscar daños.

Las cuadrillas aún no han observado una vaca en el proceso de rascado, pero han visto que esto sucede en el pasado. En el caso del último avistamiento relámpago, se oye ver vacas pastando cerca, espigando de un campo de maíz cosechado. Las inspecciones previas de las cuadrillas descartaron otras posibles causas.

(Actualizado, 20/11/2024) El personal de Grant PUD trabajó con el dueño de la propiedad para desviar una cerca eléctrica para mantener a las vacas alejadas del alambre. También están trabajando para "seccionar" el circuito, por lo que cualquier interrupción futura afectará a menos clientes.

Y a todos los afectados por estos apagones, gracias por su paciencia, mientras trabajamos para volver a encender las luces... y mantenerlos puestos.

Grant PUD commissioners were joined by PUD employees and representatives of contractor North Sky on Tuesday, Nov. 12 to celebrate the near completion of the 25-year fiber buildout to all of Grant County.

Crew members for North Sky Communications, Grant PUD's fiber buildout contractor, work to install fiber on Sagebrush Flats Road west of Ephrata last month. Once the Sagebrush Flats Road work is finished, fiber will built out throughout all of Grant County. 

Priest Rapids Dam, Mattawa. Grant PUD file photo.

You may have likely heard that Grant, Chelan and Douglas PUDs jointly filed a lawsuit in June against the federal government over our collective contribution of hydroelectric energy and capacity we must send to Canada per the Columbia River Treaty.

(Note: We'll post the commission audio as soon as we can. Sorry for the delay. We're working on it)

Grant PUD Commissioners Tuesday unanimously approved $10.145 million to buy three parcels of land totaling 159 acres near Moses Lake for a new service center.

The property is within the Moses Lake urban growth area, near the junction of Highway 17 and I-90 (see map). According to the purchase-and-sale agreement approved by commissioners, the utility will pay the estate of David L. Sparks for the land.

This week's commission meeting took place at the Hydro Office Building near Wanapum Dam.


Reminder!  Hearings for 2025 budget are Oct. 8

    

Tree limbs that conceal or blow into power lines are a leading cause of power outages in wind-prone Grant County. Grant PUD has the legal right and obligation to trim interfering trees to ensure our electric grid is safe and reliable for all customers. Since public safety is paramount to our mission, we don’t need the property owner’s permission to trim, nor will we give prior notice before trimming.

Since January, Grant PUD customers have been able to talk with a live and local customer service representative on seven days a week (excluding holidays and training days) from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. The program has enabled customers to have greater access to help for their accounts and power service, said Cary West, Senior Manager of Customer Solutions during his department’s quarterly report for the PUD commissioners during their meeting on Sept. 10.

Grant PUD has 75 applications for new and expanding power service from large-load customers in a queue maintained by the Large Power Solutions team. 

(NOTE: Portions of this meeting weren't recorded due to technical troubles. We're working to fix them. Until then, you can find the recorded portion on YouTube here.

Grant PUD is planning to bring in more power resources to serve Grant County customers in 2026. Before that happens, staff is working with the commissioners to reaffirm the long-standing policy that core customers – residential, agricultural, and small business customers – will be the first supplied with low-cost power generation benefits provided by the Priest Rapids Project (PRP).  

At Grant PUD, there is a strong belief in the power of coming together to create opportunities for the next generation. This belief was at the heart of the recent Solar Car Days event at Big Bend Community College, where Grant PUD collaborated with eight amazing partners to bring this annual event to life.