The public is invited to the Public Utility District’s south county building for free drip coffee and donuts on Wednesday, Oct. 4, from 8 to 11 a.m.

The Board of Commissioners of Pacific County PUD, your electric utility invites you to celebrate Public Power Week, Oct. 1-7, 2023. During Public Power Week we will celebrate the benefits of living in a public powered community and highlight the many benefits of your community owned utility.

What is a PUD and what is Public Power?

A Public Utility District (PUD) is a community-owned, locally regulated utility that was created by a voter-approved initiative in 1930 in Washington state. There are 28 PUDs in Washington, counting Pacific County PUD. All PUDs are not-for-profit, community-owned utilities that can provide some or all of the electricity, water, sewer and wholesale telecommunication services to the communities they serve.

Your local Pacific PUD provides electricity to approximately 18,500 households and businesses in Pacific County, wholesale telecommunication to just over 200 end users and water to 336 customers in three rural districts in North Pacific County.

So simply put, Public Power is community power. That means that the decisions regarding how your utility is run are made locally, not by out of area corporations. Public power utilities are rooted in and committed to the communities they serve.

Like public schools and libraries, PUDs are owned by the community and run as a division of local government, not a for-profit business. Pacific County PUD is governed by a nonpartisan, locally elected, three-member board of commissioners who serve 6-year terms. The board is responsible for adopting a budget, setting rates and for overseeing the operation of the PUD. Business is conducted in open sessions (two per month on the first and third Tuesdays) where the public, our customer-owners can observe and comment on the decision-making process. Citizens can know where their power comes from and how and why decisions are made that affect their bills.

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Because of its extensive hydroelectric system, Washington state provides of the cleanest and most affordable electricity in the nation.

PUDs, including Pacific County PUD, purchase wholesale electricity at cost from the Bonneville Power Association (BPA) and pass the savings on to you, our customer-owners. BPA is a federal agency that markets power generated by 31 hydroelectric dams in the Columbia River Basin. Because of its extensive hydroelectric system, Washington state provides of the cleanest and most affordable electricity in the nation. Almost 90% of Washington state’s electricity-generating resources produce zero greenhouse gasses. In addition to the predominantly hydroelectric power, Pacific County PUD’s diverse resource mix includes solar, wind and nuclear.

Because PUDs are not-for-profit, customers and businesses pay an average 15% less for power than that provided by private utilities. Pacific County PUD’s continued goal is to ensure reliable, affordable, sustainable and customer-focused service to our community for years to come.

For public power week your PUD is celebrating the people behind public power and our 54 utility employees. PUD employees work tirelessly to keep your lights on 24 hours a day, seven days a week from our two operating centers — Willapa Operations Center (WOC) in Raymond and Peninsula Operations Center (POC) in Long Beach. We are proud of our homegrown, dedicated staff members who work together to serve you in engineering, operations, customer service, administration, finance and power supply.

Pacific County PUD facilitates a range of community programs, including our Warm Heart program. We invite community members to participate in this program where you can make an annual or monthly donation on your electric bill that goes directly to helping vulnerable customers in Pacific County with their electric bills. During the month of October we are also sponsoring a Community Food Drive to help our neighbors in need. Drop off non-perishable items or a cash donation at your local operations center in October.

Let’s Celebrate Public Power Week together. Please stop by your local operations center between the hours of 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. for free drip coffee and donuts on Oct. 4 and 5. Hope to see you there:

• Wednesday, Oct. 4 at POC in Long Beach.

• Thursday, Oct. 5 at WOC in Raymond.

PACIFIC COUNTY PUD COMMISSIONERS

Pam Hickey, Ilwaco

President

Debbie Oakes, Long Beach

Vice President

Michelle Layman, Raymond

Secretary