Your PUD PUD News Line

11/2/2005

Wayne Wright named interim PUD manager

With a unanimous vote, Chelan County PUD commissioners have named Wayne Wright, a 26-year employee of the District, as interim general manager effective Nov. 28, 2005.

Wright, Customer and Environmental Services assistant general manager, will lead the District while commissioners conduct a search for a new general manager. Photo of Wayne Wright.

By accepting the interim position, Wright will not be a candidate for the long-term general manager spot. PUD commissioners have outlined a process they estimate may take three to six months to fill the long-term slot.

Wright joined Chelan County PUD in 1979. He started his career in the Public Information office and served as public information officer, community services administrator and communications manager before being named to the senior management team in fall 2001. He is an active volunteer, Exchange Club member, serves on the board of the Community Foundation of North Central Washington and the Holy Apostles Catholic Church Parrish Council, and is a Mission View Elementary School lunch buddy.

Voice your opinion

Meetings to hear from the public about the qualifications and characteristics needed for the next general manager of Chelan County PUD will begin next week and wrap up by the end of the month.

PUD commissioners are seeking public involvement in the process of hiring a new manager. General Manager Charlie Hosken is leaving the PUD on Nov. 25 for a job with a large irrigation district in California.

Here’s a tentative schedule. Depending on final arrangements for locations, the meetings, with one exception, will be held at 7 p.m. on:

  • Photo of PUD Commissioners.Nov. 2 – Monitor United Methodist Church, following a meeting to discuss possible water system improvements
  • Nov. 9 – Wenatchee Center, 121 N. Wenatchee Ave.
  • Nov. 15 – Entiat School cafeteria (combined with the meeting to discuss the route for a new transmission line)
  • Nov. 16 – Leavenworth Fest Halle
  • Nov. 21 – Cashmere Riverside Center
  • Nov. 22 – 5 p.m. at the Chelan County PUD Auditorium, 327 N. Wenatchee Ave. (to encourage PUD employees to attend)
  • Nov. 28 – Chelan County Fire District 1 station in Malaga
  • Nov. 29 – Campbell’s Resort in Chelan

    More information about the meetings is being mailed to all PUD customers.
     

Financial forecast continues to improve

Power sales revenue continues to come in better than forecast, which means Chelan County PUD will likely end 2005 with cash reserves of about $93 million and that no electric rate increase is recommended for the 2006 budget.

Power Manager Steve Fisher says continuing high power prices mean the District is likely to end 2005 with $50 million from surplus sales. It budgeted $40 million. More water to generate power and the rising market price of power resulted in the additional revenue. The additional income will be needed to help pay for major projects the PUD has in progress, including modernization of all three dams, upgrades to parts of the Distribution system, fiber-optics, water system improvements, environmental studies for fish and wildlife, and transmission upgrades.

Chief Financial Officer Joe Jarvis said PUD staff continues to review and trim the 2006 budget, with the next version set to go to the PUD Commission for discussion on Nov. 14.

Key opinion on Lake Chelan relicensing received

PUD Hydro Services Director Gregg Carrington says the long-awaited biological opinion from NOAA Fisheries has arrived for the proposed new license for the Lake Chelan Project.

 The PUD submitted a settlement package for a new, 50-year license for the Lake Chelan Project in May 2004. The dam has been operating since then on an annual license from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). Carrington said the NOAA opinion is consistent with the terms of the settlement agreement, but FERC will still do its own analysis. He estimated that could take six more months, and the outcome isn’t certain because of a recent shift in policy on relicensing issues by FERC.

Plug in

Would you like to learn about plans to establish a center for plug-in hybrid vehicles and renewable fuels? Come to the Advanced Vehicle Initiative Action Summit, from 7:30 a.m.- 4 p.m., on Tuesday, Nov. 15, at the Confluence Technology Center. To learn more about the conference, visit www.ncwctc.com. For more information on the initiative, contact Ron Johnston-Rodriguez, at 509.663.5159.

Stay in touch with your PUD

The PUD’s Web site is in the process of a much-needed overhaul, but in the mean time, we’ve made it easier to get important information about the PUD on one page. Go to our Web site, www.chelanpud.org, and click on the PUD logo at the top of the page to visit On the Record.