Your PUD PUD News Line

7/18/2007

It pays to save

While Chelan County PUD is primarily an electric utility, the District also supplies domestic water to 5,000 customers in rural Wenatchee, Squilchuck/Wenatchee Heights, Dryden, Ollala Canyon and Chelan Ridge. Geography, diverse terrain, low population density and strict regulations make these water systems expensive to operate. Many water customers have no access to irrigation water and use domestic water for irrigating their landscaping.

Rates are based on a conservation formula. The more water you use, the more it costs. So it pays to save. To help customers reduce their water bills and extend water resources, Chelan County PUD encourages indoor and outdoor water conservation and the use of Xeriscape™ landscaping. Xeriscape promotes creative approaches to water-conserving landscapes by helping people improve their soils, plant drought-tolerant flowers and shrubs, and use efficient irrigation techniques. In the western United States, more than 50 percent of the residential water used goes on landscapes and lawns. Xeriscape can reduce landscape water use by 60 percent or more.

Click here to learn about more ways to conserve water and save money.

Rock Island Dam modernization moves forward

Chelan County PUD commissioners have approved calling for bids to continue the multi-million dollar modernization of the oldest powerhouse on the Columbia River, at Rock Island Dam.

The proposed project would replace up to four of the original generators in the dam in the next two years. It is expected that work on the dam’s first generator would start in 2008.

Staff reported that the  turbines that use water power to turn the units are in good shape, and should last another 20 years, but the generators that create the electricity are showing their age and need replacement. They were installed in the 1930s.

Learn more about turbines and generators.

Current work on Powerhouse 1 includes removing the dam’s tenth unit, or B10, and installing both a new turbine and generator. If the new unit works well, units 5 through 9 would also be upgraded.

B10 is one of the six units added in the 1950s to the original powerhouse at Rock Island Dam. And it is the first unit at Rock Island being replaced in the modernization program designed to keep the turbines and generators spinning efficiently for another 50 years.

Click here for more information on Rock Island modernization.

Chelan County PUD hit a milestone this month, with fiber optics now available to over 20,000 homes, businesses, schools and hospitals throughout Chelan County.

This advanced fiber-optics network showcases a collaborative effort by public/private entities working together to construct and provide the 3,000-square-mile county with a competitive choice for broadband, telephone and television. So far, more than 5,700 end-users have taken advantage of the chance to connect.

Click here to read more.

Cool tips for saving energy on hot days

The PUD has adequate power supply to meet increased demand as temperatures rise this summer. Water supply for hydro generation is normal this year.

We also want to help customers use energy wisely and be prepared in case of a power outage from lightning storms or wildfires.

Using energy wisely can help you save money and stay comfortable.

Here are suggestions on how to stay cool and save energy this summer.