PUD considers wind energy

The Wahkiakum County PUD Board of Directors met this week to discuss a variety of topics ranging from wind farms to energy assistance.

Jim Oakley, Senior Members Relations Representative for Energy Northwest spoke to the board about wind energy.

At a wind farm, Oakley said, there needs to be someone there to answer phones 24/7 so should there be a problem, Bonneville Power Administration can call if they need to test the system.

BPA recently needed to shut part of the system down, but were only able to reach a couple of the farms. It was a cause of concern for them, Oakley said. They were worried the system was going to go down, but were able to make the adjustments necessary.

Commissioner Bob Jungers suggested the farms have remote isolators with BPA, so should the need arise, they could be shut down if a farm was overproducing. He asked if it would fry one of the farms. Oakley said he wasn’t sure, but believed there would be a way to take the farms offline internally.

In other business, Manager Dave Tramblie reported the marina project is falling into place. He said he is still waiting on some parts to come in from out of state but he hopes in a few weeks, the conductor will be energized.

Tramblie reminded the board of a discussion he brought up at a recent board meeting. He said a backup transformer for the Grays River substation could be purchased for $350,000.

He said he realized it is a lot of money, however, at this time there is no backup system in that area. He stated several options but believed the best would be to do some searching and find a used transformer for less money.

Auditor Erin Wilson said she was contacted last week by a couple of Wahkiakum High School students to purchase an ad for their yearbook. She reminded the board of the half page ad placed last year for $130.

She said she would work on a few ideas to present to the board at the next meeting. This year, Wilson said she thought it would be good to gear the ad towards conservation issues as it is a hot topic lately.

Commissioner Larry Reese told the board he spoke with a Puget Island resident about the credit on last month’s bill. The resident, Reese said, heard about the idea to donate funds for low income residents.

He said the resident asked how to make a contribution to a low income resident heating energy program. Wilson told Reese that because at this time nothing is officially set up, the individual Reese spoke with should contact Mary Vik at Health and Human Services. If they wish, Wilson said, they can specify the funds to go toward PUD bills.

The next meeting of the PUD will be February 17.