Your PUD PUD News Line
11/9/2006
50-year license issued for Lake Chelan Hydro Project
Applause greeted the news Monday afternoon that a new, 50-year license has been issued for the 48-megawatt Lake Chelan Hydroelectric Project.
Gregg Carrington, Hydro Services director, told commissioners the 300-page license was received at about 2 p.m. Licensing staff members immediately began reviewing the document to determine if there are any significant differences with the settlement agreement submitted to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on Oct. 17, 2003.
PUD commissioners and General Manager Rich Riazzi thanked all PUD employees who have worked on the relicensing effort since 1997.
Carrington said he and other licensing team members will provide an in depth review of the license terms to PUD commissioners at the next meeting, Nov. 13.
Get more information on the relicensing process. View the FERC license order.
Customer service survey results
A recent telephone survey of Chelan County PUD customers found that 97 percent report being satisfied with the overall service of the PUD.
Bill Robinson, whose firm conducted the survey, and Dan Sollom, PUD Strategic Planning and District Services director, Monday outlined the results from the customer survey conducted Sept. 27-Oct. 21.
“The numbers I’m going to show you are absolutely heart-warming,” said Bill Robinson.
Robinson Research of Spokane contacted 400 PUD customers in the Wenatchee area, Leavenworth and Chelan-Manson. It is the 11th customer survey done by the firm for the PUD since 1989. The last survey was done in 2002.
Robinson said the 2006 results show across-the-board improvement from 2002, and in many areas, are above the average for all years the survey has been done.
Customers listed “keeping rates low” as the top issue facing the PUD (16 percent), followed by “ensuring enough energy/power is available” (11 percent) and “dam use/relicensing” (7 percent).
Commissioner Norm Gutzwiler noted the improvement from 2002 to 2006. “Most important is that we have 2002 as a measurement and everything is up.”Robinson’s presentation and an executive summary of results are available on the PUD’s Web site.
Unofficial election results for Chelan County PUD commission races
Here are the unofficial results from the Chelan County Auditor's Office:
At-large Dist. B (4-yr term)
votes % of votes
Gary Montague 6,559 47.82 percent
Dennis Bolz 7,102 51.78 percent
Dist. 2 (6-yr term)
Randy Smith 8,182 60.16 percent
Nick Stemm 5,366 39.48
Chelan County elections officials will post the next vote tally at 4 p.m. Thursday.
You can check updated vote totals on the county's Web site.
PUD taking hard look at 2007 finances
PUD General Manager Rich Riazzi, Chief Financial Officer Joe Jarvis and Power Management Director Randy Lowe gave commissioners their first look Oct. 30, at a 2007 preliminary budget that is built around a low-water year.
Setting a goal of holding operating expenses to a 5-percent increase, Riazzi commended staff for trimming almost $5 million from proposed spending since Sept. 27. As water flow forecasts have decreased this fall, 2007 revenue from surplus power sales is projected to drop by potentially $25 million next year. The total budget would be $308.7 million, compared to $280 million this year.
Dig deeper into PUD finances on Nov. 20
Please join us for the second in the series of meetings on the future direction of your Chelan County PUD.
At this session we will examine financial data covering where we’ve been and where we need to be in the next five to 10 years.
We’ll look at what will influence our future financial picture. We’ll be figuring out how much risk we should accept, how much debt we should carry, what our cash reserve levels should be and how to set priorities for future spending.
The comments of our customers are an important part of that process.
Please join us at 5:30 p.m., on Nov. 20 at the Confluence Technology Center.
See new fiber optics video
A new 6-minute “Fiber Optics, Lighting our Future” video features local residents talking about how the PUD’s fiber network is working for them.
Rocky Reach Visitor Center hours change
Starting Oct. 29, the Visitor Center at Rocky Reach Dam is open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily. Activities at the visitor center include powerhouse tours, exhibits in the Museum of the Columbia, art displays, movies in the theater and fish viewing. The museum in the powerhouse will close at 3:30 p.m. daily. Rocky Reach Dam Park will be open until 4:30 p.m.
The center’s annual winter closure will begin on Monday, Nov. 20, and the center will reopen for the 2007 season to visitors on March 17.
Check for fiber availability
Residents of Chelan County can now find out in seconds if they are in a fiber-optic build zone. Click on the map to access the PUD’s fiber-optics mapping feature.