User:Ksproles/EWEB

The Eugene Water & Electric Board (EWEB) is Oregon's largest customer-owned utility. Founded in 1911, EWEB provides electricity, water and steam heat to more than 86,000 customers in Eugene, Oregon.

Chartered by the City of Eugene, 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" and elected by all of Eugene's voters. This board retains full control and sets policies for the water, electric and steam utilities.

History
In the early part of the 20th century, the public grew increasingly dissatisfied with the private, for-profit water utility serving the community. When a 1906 typhoid fever epidemic was traced to the water supply, Eugene's citizens overwhelmingly supported municipal ownership of the water system.

In 1908, Eugene voters approved $300,000 in bonds to purchase the private water utility and establish a municipally owned water system. In 1911, the Eugene Water Board began operations.

The Eugene City Council ordered the construction of a hydroelectric power plant that would power the pumps necessary to ensure adequate water pressure. When the Walterville Hydroelectric Plant on the McKenzie River was completed in 1911, the City Council transferred control of the utility to a separate citizen board.

Electricity that wasn't needed to power the water pumps and city streetlights was sold to the community in competition with the existing private electric utility. In 1916, the board purchased the private Oregon Power Company's electric system, positioning the utility as the full-service provider it is today.

The utility's name was changed to the Eugene Water & Electric Board in 1949, reflecting its broader role.

Electric resource portfolio
More than 95 percent of the electricity EWEB needs to serve its customers comes from hydropower, wind 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 and from EWEB's own hydroelectric projects. EWEB also has been at the forefront of renewable energy resource development. 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.

Electric resource plan
EWEB’s Integrated Electric Resource Plan provides a road map for future resource decisions. The current plan, developed with the help of citizens, sets two priorities:  Continue an aggressive energy conservation effort, then Acquire renewable power to meet any increase in demand that cannot be offset by conservation efforts 

Renewable energy
Since the late 1990s, EWEB has been at the forefront of developing renewable energy resources to meet increased demand not offset by conservation efforts.

EWEB's renewable energy programs include EWEB Greenpower and a solar electric program.