Related News
Related News
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Community members can test out climate-friendly e-bikes at E-Bike Expo on Saturday
EWEB encourages Eugene residents to ride into summer on clean, accessible e-bikes, with a $300 e-bike rebate.
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EWEB Hosts Dinner to Appreciate Customers of the McKenzie River Valley
EWEB hosted a customer appreciation dinner at the Walterville Community Center on Thursday, May 23, in place of its yearly upriver Board meeting. The event allowed customers, EWEB Commissioners, and staff to share a meal and openly discuss topics most relevant to the McKenzie Valley community.
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EWEB bids a fond farewell to College Hill Reservoir and prepares for modern drinking water storage tanks
Several hundred Eugene residents came together on May 30 for a Farewell Celebration at EWEB’s College Hill Reservoir before demolition and construction to build modern drinking water storage tanks begins later this year.
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EWEB invests in satellite-based forestry analytics for vegetation management
EWEB maintains over 1,300 miles of overhead transmission and distribution lines. To aid crews in identifying hazardous vegetation growth in a sometimes heavily forested service territory, EWEB is utilizing a new satellite-based forestry analytics software called Overstory.
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Tips to stay cool while saving money this summer
June is quickly approaching, and that means summer weather is just around the corner. Before you turn up the air conditioning and see an increase in your utility bill, try these tips to prepare your home for warmer weather to keep your home cool.
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EWEB offering additional energy efficiency supplement to qualified customers
Current EWEB residential electric customers may qualify to double their energy efficiency rebates with a limited time supplement.
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EWEB opens application for 2024 Electric Mobility Community Grants
Grant awards of up to $30,000 to cover costs associated with electric mobility projects.
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Upgrades to Eugene's downtown electric network continue
You may have noticed construction this week on the corner of 7th and Pearl Street. That’s because crews replaced a corroded, aging vault with an innovative, new Voltek vault. The Voltek design allows for the new infrastructure to be built inside of the existing aging vault. We’re able to install the new vault while the cables are still energized, minimizing disruption to customers and traffic while cutting construction time in half.
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The Big Freeze 2024: After Action Report
Winter 2024 was one for the records books, and we'll look back on it for years to come and say, "That was a doozy!" The back-to-back January Ice Storms caused widespread damage to EWEB’s service territory, affecting approximately 38,000 customers. Preliminary repair costs were over $8 million, and additional repairs to transmission lines are still required.
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Fixing the Unseen: Water Pipeline Replacement in Unincorporated Eugene
Learn more about EWEB's methods for monitoring and replacing aged water pipelines.
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New tanks come online as EWEB modernizes water system
New drinking water storage tanks are one of several investments to ensure that EWEB can meet critical community needs in the event of an earthquake.
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Celebrate Earth Month by taking charge of your home's energy use
This Earth Month, learn how you can reduce your energy usage to help protect our planet and reduce carbon emissions.
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Spring Cleaning? How about Spring Emergency Preparedness!
Spring is officially here and that means the plants are blooming, the sun is (sometimes) shining, and the grass is green! We've had our fair share of severe weather already, but spring weather is notoriously unpredictable. While you're in the midst of spring cleaning and garden care, consider completing these emergency preparedness tasks.
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EWEB General Manager Delivers 2024 State of the Utility
General Manager Frank Lawson delivered his address at the March 5 public Board of Commissioners meeting
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Nine days without power: My ice storm story as an EWEB customer and employee
While beautiful and peaceful, buying a home on the edge of the forest and surrounded by trees has its tradeoffs. Moving “upriver,” I knew there would be more threats to prepare for, including Mother Nature’s seasonal surprises.
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Bill Assistance Program Helped 1,000 Customers in April
April 14, 2020
As a community-owned, nonprofit utility, we have always worked with our customers in crisis, and this time is no different.
EWEB's Customer Care program provides a $260 bill credit annually to customers who meet income guidelines. In response to the coronavirus, EWEB increased the amount of funding available in April and expanded the program to also cover customers who experience a job loss related to the pandemic.
As a result, 1,000 customers received bill assistance this month alone. Comparing that to the average of 580 customers per month helped in the first three, pre-COVID months of 2020, shows the scale of financial hardship in our community.
But even with nearly triple the funding for April, the program was fully allocated within an hour when applications opened on April 1.
"We know these are challenging times and we want to do our part to help, alongside city, state and federal efforts," said Anna Wade in EWEB's Customer Solutions Office. "At the same time, we recognize that the widespread economic consequences of this crisis mean the need will certainly outstrip the availability of funds."
Programs struggle to keep up with demand
According to the Oregon Employment Department, initial claims for the week ending April 4, 2020 surpassed the highest number of weekly claims seen during the Great Recession for the third week in a row.
As the economic consequences continue to unfold, many support programs are experiencing the challenges of supply and demand.
Lane County, the City of Springfield, the City of Eugene, and Community LendingWorks created a Small Business Emergency Loan Fund (SBELF) to help local businesses but due to high demand, the fund is currently unavailable and interested businesses are being asked to submit an application to be put on the waiting list.
EWEB increasing funds through June
When EWEB's Customer Care program opens once again on May 1 and June 1, the utility will more than double the funding available.
In the time period of April to June, the bill assistance program will serve more than 2,600 households, and by year-end, nearly 7,000 households could receive the EWEB bill credit.
"At this point, we don't know how long the economic impacts will last," said Anna. "We are continuing to assess the funds that are available and help as many customers as we can, for as long as we can."
Maintaining a focus on affordability
In addition to EWEB's COVID assistance programs, doing our part means maintaining an on-going focus on affordability for all customers.
This year marked the fifth time in the past six years with no residential electric price increase and the third year in a row with no jump in residential water prices.
Also this year, EWEB expanded income-based efficiency rebates and loans to upgrade heating systems, insulation, windows and water heaters, in some cases covering up to 100 percent of the costs.
"One of the most effective ways we can help customers on a sustained basis is to help them lower utility bills while internally managing administrative costs," said Anna.
Accessing assistance
If you were unable to access bill assistance funds in April prior to program close, we encourage you to apply next month. Applications will re-open May 1 at 9.a.m. and are accepted on a first-come, first-served basis until funds are fully allocated for the month.
In addition to the expanded bill credit, EWEB has suspended shut-offs and late-fees. We ask that if you start to fall behind on payments, please reach out to inquire about programs that could be beneficial to avoid accruing a large overdue balance.
If you have an efficiency loan through EWEB, we can defer payments upon request. We can also make flexible payment arrangements for customers experiencing a reduction in pay due to slowing business conditions, or those forced to take unpaid leave due to coronavirus mitigation effort.
Learn more about EWEB's COVID-19 crisis response, and how to apply for bill assistance.