News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
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Grant PUD’s wholesale fiber network is on pace to bring in more than $12.5 million in revenue this year, which will help ensure that the utility’s covers the cost of operating the expanding network. Terry McKenzie, Senior Manager of Grant PUD Fiber, provided that information in a quarterly fiber update to commissioners on July 12. In each of the first five months of 2022, revenues from the network more than covered operations and maintenance costs. Revenues grew by 3% from January to May. The network also added 1,073 new fiber subscribers in...
The headlines in recent weeks have been startling: Extreme heat and energy shortfalls in much of the country could lead to power outages this summer across the Midwest, Texas and California, and another active wildfire season in the West will pose even more reliability risks for the power system. The nation’s power grid is under incredible pressure. Growing electricity demand, climate change and carbon-reduction policies are increasing the risk of blackouts. As states phase out fossil fuels, the Northwest Power and Conservation Council reports...
Grand Coulee Police 3/14 - A woman was reported as taking scrap metal from inside a fenced area at the Delano Transfer Station, then walking towards the PUD building. Police spoke to a man walking on trails near the PUD building and noted that he had a dryer cord wrapped around himself. The transfer station manager said he couldn’t describe an additional suspect. He also told police he wouldn’t want to press charges if police found the woman because it likely wouldn’t make a difference. 3/17 - Police spoke to two women who had pushed and shove...
Grant PUD announced last week that it would join in a partnership with two other entities to pursue building a nuclear power project. The county-based utility that already operates two hydroelectric dams on the Columbia River will work with Energy Northwest and X-energy, in a "TRi Energy Partnership," a "mutual partnership to support the development and commercial demonstration of the country's first advanced nuclear reactor," the public utility district announced in a press release Thursday....
Grant Public Utility District has seen a large increase in overdue accounts since the COVID-19 pandemic started. In January of 2020, before the pandemic, Grant PUD had just 39 residential customers in the 90-days-or-more overdue category, amounting to $1,012 in outstanding payments, Chief Customer Officer Dave Churchman told commissioners at their March 23 meeting. In February of 2021, just over a year later, the numbers had gone up to 1,072 customers 90 days or more overdue, amounting to $286,395 in outstanding payments. Churchman said the per...
Grant PUD’s decision to pursue a partnership in a next-generation nuclear power plant stems from the same circumstance that incented Columbia Basin Hydropower’s interest in its Banks Lake Hydropower project. The factors driving this grip all of us; change is inevitable. Both the PUD and Columbia Basin Hydro figure more power will be needed in the coming years, and that much of it will come from renewable energy developments that need a more stable, fairly permanent source of power to steady their less-than-stable energy flow. Both of those pro...
Grant PUD, along with Energy Northwest and X-energy, announced they would be partnering on a nuclear power project. An April 1 press release from Grant PUD explained that the TRi Energy Partnership is “a mutual partnership to support the development and commercial demonstration of the country’s first advanced nuclear reactor.” The release says that “the partners will collaborate and share resources to evaluate their mutual goal of siting, building, and operating a Xe-100 advanced nuclear power plant at an existing Energy Northwest site north o...
A COVID-era rule intended to help individuals has meant lost revenue for cities, and utilities. Washington Gov. Jay Inslee’s Proclamation 20-23, first issued in March of 2020, doesn’t allow utilities to be shut off for a resident, nor for late fees to be charged. That has meant that those who charge for utilities, such as local cities and electric companies, are holding higher amounts of their customers unpaid bills than usual, and that they also haven’t been able to bring in money from late fees like they have before. Locally, the city of Gr...
Ida Faye Dice passed away on Friday, September 25, 2020, at her home in Grand Coulee, Washington surrounded by close family and love. Faye was born on October 26, 1941, in Mason City, Washington to Jack and Edna (Shaffer) Flowers. Faye was the granddaughter of two local pioneer families, the Whiteley’s and the Shaffer’s. She loved spending time at the Shaffer Ranch. A special childhood memory was spending Friday evenings watching Alfred Hitchcock Presents with her mother and sister. She grew to love scary movies. Faye was a majorette in Jun... Full story
Voting by mail in Washington is safe and secure, Kim Wyman, the secretary of state and the state's top election official has said repeatedly over the last several months. But President Trump's insistence that it's not, as well as changes happening in the U.S. Postal Service lengthening delivery times have concerned the public. That's had Wyman, a Republican seeking her third term in office, also touting the state's system of ballot drop-off boxes. "Our experience in Washington," she wrote in... Full story
Grant County PUD customers will be happy to hear their electric rates won’t be going up anytime soon. PUD commissioners learned at their Aug. 25 meeting that the PUD is on track to meet most of its financial targets through 2025 “with virtually no annual electric rate increases to customers,” a recap of their meeting posted on their website reads. However, “conditions could change amid revenue uncertainty on the wholesale energy market and spending needs in the coming years as the economy continues to recover from the COVID-19 pandemi...
Fire razed several buildings in Electric City early Tuesday morning, including an unoccupied house. When the call went out about 12:30 a.m., the fire was already well underway, said Mark Payne, fire chief in Electric City. The fire at the house at 118 Fifth Street near the edge of the city also started a small wildland fire that burned about an acre near the edge of the city on a windless night in dry brush. Payne, who could be heard asking dispatchers to call out more firefighters and brush...
Grand Coulee Police 8/25 - A Batchelor Square woman and her niece got into a physical altercation after arguing about makeup. She decided to pay for her niece to stay in a motel for the night and an officer took her there. - A 91-year-old man was reportedly sticking his thumb out, hitchhiking on Coulee Boulevard. The man wasn’t there upon police arrival. - A black Dodge pickup was reportedly driving erratically, nearly hitting a guardrail, from Grand Coulee Avenue to Martin Road. Police were unable to locate the vehicle. 8/26 - The driver of a...
Ballots for Washington’s primary elections must be mailed out by county election offices by Friday, and local voters will have options from which to choose no matter which county or district they live in. In the Grant County Commissioner District #1 race, the candidates are: Danny Stone, of Hartline; Mark S. Wanke, of Ephrata; and Earl Romig, of Moses Lake. All candidates are listed as Republicans. In the Grant County Commissioner District #2 race, the candidates are Rob Jones and Tom Taylor, both Republicans from Moses Lake. In Okanogan C...
The COVID-19 pandemic made us reconsider how we work, attend school, seek medical care and interact with family and friends. One thing is clear – access to affordable broadband is more important than ever. As leaders in fiber infrastructure development, Public Utility Districts must be allowed to compete for federal funding to serve the most hard-to-reach rural customers. Policy makers recognize that broadband access is critical to a community’s success. Congress and the President are considering broadband as part of their respective inf...
EPHRATA – Grant PUD, in conjunction with Columbia Basin Foundation, has contributed to eight food banks throughout Grant County this spring with Pay-It-Forward grants totaling $11,000. The services of these food banks are greatly needed during the COVID-19 pandemic. Many in our communities are struggling to put food on the table for their family and these donations help to provide healthy meals. Food banks receiving assistance include: Coulee City, Grand Coulee, Ephrata, Mattawa, Moses Lake/Warden, Quincy, Royal City and Soap Lake. The P...
EPHRATA – Grant PUD, in conjunction with Columbia Basin Foundation, has contributed to eight food banks throughout Grant County this spring with Pay-It-Forward grants totaling $11,000. The services of these food banks are greatly needed during the COVID-19 pandemic. Many in our communities are struggling to put food on the table for their family and these donations help to provide healthy meals. Food banks receiving assistance include: Coulee City, Grand Coulee, Ephrata, Mattawa, Moses Lake/Warden, Quincy, Royal City and Soap Lake. The P... Full story
A charitable-giving organization that manages millions and has grown 380 times its initial size in 24 years is reaching out to smaller communities, including this one, wanting to make a bigger impact. Not that it hasn’t given to local causes in the past. Just recently, the Ephrata-based Columbia Basin Foundation has given the Grand Coulee Dam Area Chamber of Commerce $1,000 for local business support, and it’s donating another $1,000 to the Care and Share Food Bank, both under the foundation’s “ReCOVIDery,” initiative to help during the COVID... Full story
Tom Flint Monday announced his fifth run for re-election as Grant Public Utility District (Grant PUD) commissioner, District A-At Large. He first joined the commission in 2000. “Institutional knowledge and stability are important characteristics of a PUD Commissioner,” Flint said. “With my 20 years of service on the board, I know this county was built on the foundation of hydroelectric power. I remain committed to preserving those benefits for the residents, farmers, irrigators and businesses of this great county. I also believe strongly that...
Chamber to Meet at La Presa Chamber will meet this Thursday, February 13, at the Siam Palace Restaurant, Main Street, Grand Coulee. The meeting will start at noon with general business on the agenda. Grant County Mosquito District 2 to Meet The Grant County Mosquito District #2 will hold its monthly meeting at 5 p.m., Thursday, February 13, at 210 W. Coulee Blvd., in Electric City. Okanogan County School Retirees’ Assoc. to Meet Okanogan County School Retirees’ Association will meet 11 a.m., Friday, February 28, for a general meeting and no-...
In 1964, the United States and Canada ratified the Columbia River Treaty to increase coordination between our countries on power generation and flood control issues, along with critical support of irrigation, navigation, and ecosystem habitat needs. While the treaty has provided a useful framework for these needs, there are severe distortions that have greatly — and unfairly — burdened Americans living in the greater Northwest region. With a 60-year term, the earliest the treaty could have been terminated was 2024. In anticipation of the end...
Grant PUD’s credit rating just increased, somewhat easing an area of concern fanned during last fall’s election season. The utility’s debt had become a political issue during last year’s campaigns for PUD commissioner spots, with those winning having been critical of the level of debt carried and others saying it was appropriate, sustainable and better than drastically raising rates. S&P Global Ratings last month upgraded from AA to AA+ the credit rating of Grant PUD’s electric system, citing strong, sustained finances and risk managemen...
Powwow this weekend The Nespelem July Celebration and Powwow takes place this Friday through Sunday, July 12-14, at the powwow grounds where there’ll be traditional Native American drumming and dancing, as well as food and items to buy. Grand entry for the powwow will take place at 7 p.m. on July 12, at 1 p.m. and 7 p.m. on July 13, and 1 p.m. on July 14. Police to offer “night out” for community The Coulee Dam Police Department will take part in the National Night Out Aug. 6 at 6 p.m. at the department at town hall. The free event is a part...
Libraries across North Central Washington are gearing up for a summer filled with reading challenges, theatrical programs, science and technology, crafts and more. This year, North Central Regional Library is offering a full lineup of programs at all 30 of its public libraries in Chelan, Douglas, Grant, Okanogan and Ferry counties, as well as its two bookmobiles and bilingual outreach service. Signups begins as soon as school lets out for the summer. This year, NCRL will expand its traditional summer program to include a wide array of opportuni...
They came to listen and understand what has some Grand Coulee and Electric City customers upset enough to start a petition. Grant County PUD officials held a listening session and dialogue with people at last Thursday’s Grand Coulee Dam Area Chamber of Commerce meeting at Siam Palace. They heard plenty of opinions on less access at the local PUD office, which is open twice a week, including from Lonna Bussert, who had put out petitions for better customer service after spending lots of time on the phone not getting help. Public Affairs O...