Related News
Related News
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EWEB invests in preparedness for severe weather and natural disasters
Just as you take steps to safeguard your home and family, EWEB is investing in equipment and processes to ensure our community’s electric and water systems remain reliable in the face of adversity.
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EWEB customers achieve remarkable results in environmental stewardship through EWEB's Lead Green programs
Subscribers of EWEB's Lead Green programs helped reduce carbon emissions in 2023 by 730 metric tons of CO2e.
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EWEB prepares to re-energize the new Currin Substation
The rebuilt substation will increase load capacity, improve power reliability, and incorporate seismic resiliency to ensure service to our community for generations.
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EWEB, SUB and RWD join forces at Lane County Fair to distribute water to fairgoers
The Eugene Water & Electric Board, Springfield Utility Board and Rainbow Water District are teaming up for the 9th year to provide fairgoers with clean, cold free water.
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Demand for EWEB electricity during heatwave nearly broke all-time summer record
Climate-driven weather extremes, home electrification, high-tech manufacturing and data centers will cause electricity demand to surge across the Pacific Northwest.
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EWEB explores rate increases to cover rising costs and to modernize infrastructure
Amid rising inflation and other challenges, rate increases are necessary to maintain reliable utility services and fund critical investments in Eugene’s water and electric infrastructure.
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EWEB prepares for rising energy demand as weekend heat wave arrives
Electricity supply is sufficient for now, but new supplies will be necessary in the years ahead to keep pace.
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EWEB preparing for expected surge in electric vehicles
Electric vehicle (EV) sales are poised to skyrocket in the years ahead as technology improves, more models hit the market, prices fall and regulations limit the sale of gas-powered vehicles. And EWEB is preparing for this surge.
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Community members can test out climate-friendly e-bikes at E-Bike Expo on Saturday
EWEB encourages Eugene residents to ride into summer on clean, accessible e-bikes, with a $300 e-bike rebate.
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EWEB Hosts Dinner to Appreciate Customers of the McKenzie River Valley
EWEB hosted a customer appreciation dinner at the Walterville Community Center on Thursday, May 23, in place of its yearly upriver Board meeting. The event allowed customers, EWEB Commissioners, and staff to share a meal and openly discuss topics most relevant to the McKenzie Valley community.
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EWEB invests in satellite-based forestry analytics for vegetation management
EWEB maintains over 1,300 miles of overhead transmission and distribution lines. To aid crews in identifying hazardous vegetation growth in a sometimes heavily forested service territory, EWEB is utilizing a new satellite-based forestry analytics software called Overstory.
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Tips to stay cool while saving money this summer
June is quickly approaching, and that means summer weather is just around the corner. Before you turn up the air conditioning and see an increase in your utility bill, try these tips to prepare your home for warmer weather to keep your home cool.
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EWEB offering additional energy efficiency supplement to qualified customers
Current EWEB residential electric customers may qualify to double their energy efficiency rebates with a limited time supplement.
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EWEB opens application for 2024 Electric Mobility Community Grants
Grant awards of up to $30,000 to cover costs associated with electric mobility projects.
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Upgrades to Eugene's downtown electric network continue
You may have noticed construction this week on the corner of 7th and Pearl Street. That’s because crews replaced a corroded, aging vault with an innovative, new Voltek vault. The Voltek design allows for the new infrastructure to be built inside of the existing aging vault. We’re able to install the new vault while the cables are still energized, minimizing disruption to customers and traffic while cutting construction time in half.
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New Agreement Protects Fish and EWEB Customers
October 26, 2016
For more than 50 years, Carmen-Smith has reliably served Eugene with low-cost hydropower. The plant remains valuable as a carbon-free generation resource that can ramp up and down to meet customers' peak energy needs. In other words, Carmen operates when our community needs power the most and when buying that power on the wholesale market would be most expensive.
We reached a Settlement Agreement with 16 partners representing fisheries and natural resource agencies, environmental groups, tribes and recreation organizations in 2008. This negotiated agreement formed the basis for new federal operating license.
This initial agreement provided major habitat enhancements, campground improvements, and fish-friendly plant operations including a fish passage system at Trail Bridge Dam. These significant investments were agreed to at a time when wholesale power prices in the region were strong and projected to persist or even rise.
Since 2010, while the license application was under federal review, regional wholesale power prices shrunk by 60 percent, making the 2008 settlement agreement uneconomic. EWEB and the original settlement parties were able to successfully request a pause in the federal license review and go back to the table to revise the agreement. This revised agreement will be formally adopted by the EWEB Board on November 1 and submitted to the Federal Regulatory Energy Commission by the end of the month.
The revised agreement still includes many investments in habitat restoration, aquatic enhance measures and recreational improvements that are now balanced with the economic realities of the regional energy markets. Fish passage will be accomplished by alternative method, using a "trap and haul" facility and spillway fish passage. EWEB will no longer generate power at the Trail Bridge powerhouse, giving up a bit of energy production in exchange for more cost effective less intrusive fish passage.
Altogether these revisions are expected to reduce capital investments by about $80 million and long-term operating costs by $1 million annually.
With approval of the revised agreement, Carmen-Smith can further forge a balance of our community's desire for clean energy with our responsibility to protect and enhance native and endangered fish populations for future generations.