Healy chosen to fill PUD board vacancy

Wahkiakum PUD commissioners announced Tuesday that they have appointed Eugene Healy of Puget Island to fill a vacancy on their board. The vacancy was created by the resignation of Puget Island resident Larry Reese in March.

Healy was selected from a slate of 15 candidates, said commission Chair Dennis Reid. Healy will be sworn in by PUD attorney Tim Hanigan in between now and the board’s next meeting.

Healy's professional background was in telecommunications. He retired as an area manager for US West, where he was headquartered in Spokane and responsible for parts of Eastern Washington. He said an interest in public service motivated him to apply for the position.

Manager Dave Tramblie reported that Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) has delayed a project that would install a switch on the Oregon side of the Columbia to isolate Wahkiakum PUD from that segment of transmission lines.

Tramblie commented that the section in question had accounted for the majority of local outages over a recent two year period.

Crews have set poles and are stringing the circuit this week for a project on Jacobson Road in Cathlamet, said Tramblie. Last week he met with Department of Health representatives to discuss required updates to the comprehensive plan for the Western Wahkiakum Water System. An updated plan is required by March of next year.

Tramblie announced that only 81 percent of consumer owned utilities voted in favor of a proposed residential exchange agreement with BPA. This did not meet the 91 percent criteria required for the proposal to pass, said Tramblie, and work will continue on the settlement. The board voted to support the settlement at their March meeting.

PUD Auditor Erin Wilson announced that next payroll will be run on the district’s new software system for the first time during the months-long launch.

Wilson displayed a bill stuffer to be inserted with customer invoices. The insert solicits contributions to the resident energy assistance program administered for the PUD by Wahkiakum County Health and Human Services. The program has specific requirements for recipients of the funds, including meeting household income qualifications and being eligible only once per calendar year.

During a public comment period, Mike Lewis referenced a recent BPA proposal to temporarily shut down wind farms in order to use excess hydropower generated by melting snowpack.

Some wind power producers that supply power to BPA are saying that they should be compensated for lost revenue if shutdowns occur. Lewis asked if that would have an impact on Wahkiakum PUD customers's rates. Reid responded that it should not affect ratepayers at this time.