The Eugene Water & Electric Board (EWEB) is Oregon's largest customer-owned utility. Founded in 1911, it provides
electricity
Electricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and motion of matter that has a property of electric charge. Electricity is related to magnetism, both being part of the phenomenon of electromagnetism, as describ ...
and
water
Water (chemical formula ) is an inorganic, transparent, tasteless, odorless, and nearly colorless chemical substance, which is the main constituent of Earth's hydrosphere and the fluids of all known living organisms (in which it acts as ...
to more than 86,000 customers in or around
Eugene, Oregon
Eugene ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Oregon. It is located at the southern end of the Willamette Valley, near the confluence of the McKenzie and Willamette rivers, about east of the Oregon Coast.
As of the 2020 United States Census ...
.
Chartered by the City of
Eugene
Eugene may refer to:
People and fictional characters
* Eugene (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the given name
* Eugene (actress) (born 1981), Kim Yoo-jin, South Korean actress and former member of the sin ...
, a five-member Board of Commissioners is elected by the citizens of Eugene and governs the utility.
Four commissioners are elected by their respective geographic wards; a fifth commissioner is
at-large
At large (''before a noun'': at-large) is a description for members of a governing body who are elected or appointed to represent a whole membership or population (notably a city, county, state, province, nation, club or association), rather than ...
and elected by all of Eugene's voters. This board retains full control and sets policies for the water and electric utilities.
Electric resource portfolio
More than 95 percent of the electricity EWEB serves its customers comes from
hydropower
Hydropower (from el, ὕδωρ, "water"), also known as water power, is the use of falling or fast-running water to produce electricity or to power machines. This is achieved by converting the gravitational potential or kinetic energy of ...
,
wind
Wind is the natural movement of air or other gases relative to a planet's surface. Winds occur on a range of scales, from thunderstorm flows lasting tens of minutes, to local breezes generated by heating of land surfaces and lasting a few ...
and other sources that do not generate carbon-based emissions that are linked to global warming.
Most of this electricity comes from the federal
Bonneville Power Administration
The Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) is an American federal agency operating in the Pacific Northwest. BPA was created by an act of Congress in 1937 to market electric power from the Bonneville Dam located on the Columbia River and to con ...
and from EWEB's own hydroelectric projects.
EWEB was the first public utility in Oregon to own a wind farm, and the utility has contracts to purchase a substantial amount of wind and
geothermal power generated in the Northwest.
Power projects
Electric resource plan
EWEB’s Integrated Electric Resource Plan guides future resource decisions.
Developed with the help of citizens, it prioritizes a continually aggressive
energy conservation
Energy conservation is the effort to reduce wasteful energy consumption by using fewer energy services. This can be done by using energy more effectively (using less energy for continuous service) or changing one's behavior to use less service (f ...
effort and the acquisition of
renewable
A renewable resource, also known as a flow resource, is a natural resource which will replenish to replace the portion depleted by usage and consumption, either through natural reproduction or other recurring processes in a finite amount of ti ...
power to meet increased demand that such effort cannot offset.
See also
*
Hayden Bridge (Springfield, Oregon), near EWEB's water intake facilities
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Eugene Water and Electric Board
Electric power companies of the United States
Companies based in Eugene, Oregon
Public utilities of the United States
Water companies of the United States
Energy companies established in 1911
1911 establishments in Oregon
Public utilities established in 1911