PUD Meeting Notes

The Wahkiakum County PUD Board of Commissioners unanimously approved the Agenda, Minutes, Finances and the Action Item of awarding the sealed bid for the Puget Island Well Drilling and Testing project to Schneider Equipment, Inc. a Water Services Co. of St. Paul, OR. There was one other bid submitted by Tacoma Pump and Drilling Co. Inc. of Graham, Washington.

The 2025 budget will be presented to the Commissioners at their October 15, regular meeting. The budgeting process for the Consolidation Study is moving forward with the Town of Cathlamet Clerk-Treasurer. The next Consolidation Public Hearing will be held on Wednesday October 16 at 10:00 a.m. at the River Street meeting room.

Dan Kay, General Manager, presented a sample of a porcelain insulator with a hairline fracture to the group. Kay said that once the fracture is there, all it might take to cause more damage would be a wind storm, a falling branch, or a truck. The PUD crew has identified all the porcelain conductors and are working on inspecting them and/or replacing them as needed with a standard pin insulator.

To be honest, I get a little overwhelmed in the meetings with all the acronyms: WPUDA (Washington Public Utility Districts Association), DOH (Washington State Department of Health), DOE (Washington State Department of Ecology), PPC (which is from the American Public Power Association and more specifically the subgroup Public Power in Washington), WFOA (Washington Finance Officers Association), AI (Artificial Intelligence), SMR (Small Modular Reactor), CETA (Clean Energy Transformation Act), the list goes on. Just know that the PUD staff and Commissioners are dialed in and attend (in-person or on zoom) as many as they can.

WFOA Auditor Erin Wilson attended and found the sessions on AI and its possible benefits to the PUD for documents and letter writing in the future. She enjoyed the presentations on Cybersecurity and gave some examples of how it could impact services in Wahkiakum County. PPC Commissioner Gene Healy and General Manager Dan Kay will be attending the next meeting. This audit will be completed by October 15, 2024.

Of everything discussed today I found this tadbit very interesting: During the 3-day cold spell in January 2024 the Bonneville Power Administration had to purchase $300 million worth of energy on the open market.