Your PUD Message from the General Manager
2011 - Reflecting back, looking ahead
By John Janney, General Manager
12/6/2011
It’s been fun and rewarding for us at the PUD to celebrate our 75th anniversary this year, and I hope many of you feel the same way. As the year draws to a close, we find ourselves exceedingly thankful for the legacy we have inherited and also quite optimistic about the PUD’s future.
I cannot say often enough how grateful all of us are for the foresight, hard work and dedication that led to establishing and building this public power utility beginning in 1936, including the purchase of the Rock Island and Lake Chelan projects from private utilities and the eventual construction of Rocky Reach Dam. These are enormous and valuable assets that we continue to protect and enhance so all county residents can enjoy the benefits of abundant, renewable, low-cost power for many years to come.
Thanks to many of you for celebrating this year with us. More than 700 turned out in June for the 50th birthday celebration at Rocky Reach Dam, where we opened the powerhouse floor and gave people a close-up look. We were pleased to be able to tell our story and honor all the previous employees and commissioners in a historic magazine section that was part of The Wenatchee World back in June. Another highlight was an evening forum in October at Wenatchee Valley College where energy and utilities expert Craig Gannett led a discussion on a variety of opportunities and challenges ahead for the PUD and the industry. If you missed the forum and would like to see it, we have captured the discussion on DVD and have copies available upon request. Please email Christy.Shearer@chelanpud.org to obtain a copy.
In many respects, 2011 has been a year of progress for the PUD. Although we are operating with fewer employees than at any time in the past seven years, dedicated PUD employees continued to control costs and maintain high levels of service and reliability. Here are a few highlights: 1) completed two major bond refinancings – a first in such a short time frame – that resulted in nearly $68 million of savings for customers, contributing to lower annual interest costs and allowing us to reduce overall debt levels over time; 2) conducted several auctions to sell of a portion of the generation from our hydro systems (a portion that is surplus to local needs) to lock in a more constant source of income and help to stabilize electric rates for years to come; 3) achieved record levels of energy conservation via our conservation programs – saving enough energy to power nearly 1,700 homes over the past two years; 4)achieved another major milestone in our Habitat Conservation Plans by reaching adult and juvenile survival standards for spring Chinook salmon at Rocky Reach Dam.
I could go on, but my point is this: PUD employees are providing direct benefits to you, our customer-owners. As many other utilities in the region are raising electric rates, we were able to reduce the rates we charge local electric customers, effective Jan. 1, 2012. By removing the 9-percent surcharge that has been in place since 2009 and letting an overall 2.5-percent revenue increase originally approved in 2008 go into effect, customers will be paying, on average, 6.5-percent less for electricity in 2012. The net impact is putting approximately $3 million back into our customers’ pockets in 2012 to benefit the local economy, where it is sorely needed.
At the same time, I’m impressed by the generosity of PUD employees in volunteering and giving back in our local communities – one recent example being an effort by more than 40 employees who put in 140 hours on Make a Difference Day to help honor our 75th anniversary.
Now we’re looking ahead to 2012. We are reaching out to Chelan County residents to determine priorities and preferences regarding the PUD’s fiber business in order to develop a viable, sustainable long-term business plan that meets the broad needs of our customer-owners. We are continuing upgrades at Rock Island Dam, building a new transmission line and substation in the Entiat Valley, adding a substation on Okanogan Avenue in Wenatchee and making other needed upgrades to our distribution system throughout the county – all to maintain the high level of reliability you deserve and have come to expect from your PUD.
It is an honor to serve as the general manager of this great public power utility. I am committed to operating in an open and transparent manner while providing reliable, highly valued utility services at the lowest reasonable cost over the long run. Excellent customer service is one of our core values. I am proud of our employees, and I continually receive positive feedback on their efforts, yet on occasion I hear from someone who feels that we missed the mark. That feedback is also extremely important to me as we continually strive to improve the services we provide to customers. Please accept my sincere thanks to all who let us know how we are doing, and thanks for the privilege of serving you.
The utility world is changing constantly, and I, in conjunction with our many dedicated employees, pledge to do our best to stay on top of these changes and to protect and enhance your utility so the next 75 years can be even brighter. We’re happy to be part of public power, and we hope you are, too.