PUD ratepayers will pay an average of 2% more for their power, although the utility’s commissioners delayed the rake hike by one month, citing “questions of economic certainty with coronavirus and oil prices affecting the market, as well as current struggles for the agricultural sector,” according to PUD Community Relations Coordinator Sheila Corson. The Okanogan […]
Okanogan County PUD
Last chance to apply for PUD conservation loans
People who hope to get a low-fee loan from the Okanogan County Public Utility District (PUD) to fund energy-saving projects such as windows, insulation, or a new HVAC system have just one month left to apply. The maximum loan is $10,000, with terms up to five years. People pay a monthly service fee of $2 […]
Overnight power outage will affect most electric co-op customers
Most customers of the Okanogan County Electric Co-operative (OCEC) will have one more power outage so utility technicians can make the final connection to supply power to Winthrop and Mazama via the Pateros-Twisp transmission line. The overnight outage will last eight hours and 15 minutes from June 30 to July 1. It will begin at […]
PUD settles final condemnations for powerline easements
Payments conclude more than 20 years of legal conflict After more than two decades, the Okanogan County Public Utility District (PUD) has finalized payments and legal agreements for easements that allow the 27-mile Pateros-Twisp transmission line to traverse private and state property. The last court judgments for compensation to property owners for land the PUD […]
PUD commissioners reverse course on Enloe Dam
New cost estimate sinks re-electrification plans By Marcy Stamper After 13 years of planning, permitting and number-crunching for Enloe Dam, a new estimate that puts the cost of rebuilding the dam at more than twice the original amount has sunk the project. Two weeks after receiving a price of $70.4 million to rebuild Enloe, the […]
Ratepayers press PUD commission to study Enloe Dam sediment
Ratepayers at a town hall meeting this week grew exasperated as they implored the Okanogan County Public Utility District (PUD) commissioners to find out what’s in the sediment behind Enloe Dam, so the utility can make an informed decision about whether to re-energize or remove the dam.
The frustration erupted at a town-hall meeting in Brewster on Monday night (Sept. 24). The only topic on the minds of the 30 attendees was Enloe Dam, the 9-megawatt hydropower project on the Similkameen River near Oroville that hasn’t produced power for 60 years.
