Skip to Content

Related News

  • Related News

  • How EWEB’s Fleet Services reached 200,000 hours without a lost time injury

    EWEB’s Fleet Services team reached a major safety milestone: 200,000 work hours without a workplace injury that results in an employee losing at least one full day of work. 

    Find Out More
  • EWEB cuts greenhouse gas emissions from operations 55% since 2010

    Switching to renewable fuels in EWEB’s fleet operations has played a key role in reducing the utility's greenhouse gas emissions.

    Find Out More
  • Energy conservation could offset large portion of growth in power demand

    Preliminary results of an EWEB study indicate that cutting back demand can contribute to maintaining a reliable, affordable energy supply.

    Find Out More
  • Groups suing EWEB will burden customers with litigation-driven costs

    EWEB expresses disappointment that groups choose court over collaboration and firmly disputes the claims made in the lawsuit relating to operation of the utility’s Carmen-Smith Hydroelectric Project nearly 70 miles east of Eugene. EWEB takes its environmental and public safety responsibilities seriously. Contrary to the assertions in the lawsuit, construction of fish passage was postponed because EWEB’s regulator, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), required the utility to study and resolve urgent dam safety issues first.

    Find Out More
  • EWEB offers Greenpower Grant to support local sustainability project

    The Greenpower Grant, funded by voluntary customer subscriptions to Greenpower, not customer grants, supports projects that advance renewable energy, clean energy education or efforts to reduce or offset local carbon emissions.

    Find Out More
  • Show More
EWEB Will Retain Stone Creek Hydro Project under New Management Contracts

May 12, 2020

View of the Clackamas River and a transmission tower

Owned by EWEB since 1994, Stone Creek is a small but mighty hydro generation project on the Clackamas River approximately 45 miles southeast of Portland. Historically the facility has been operated and maintained for EWEB by Portland General Electric, but in late 2019, PGE notified EWEB that they would no longer operate the plant due to changes in their corporate strategy.

Stone Creek is a run-of-the-river project capable of producing 12 megawatts of power. For reference, EWEB's largest owned power source, the Carmen-Smith Hydroelectric Project on the McKenzie River, has a capacity of 114 megawatts, enough electricity to power 16,000 homes per year.

"Though a relatively small generation facility, Stone Creek has consistently provided positive revenues to EWEB customers and is a reliable producer of carbon-free, local hydropower for Eugene and the region," said EWEB General Manager Frank Lawson.

With the operations and maintenance contract between EWEB and PGE about to expire, EWEB Commissioners at the May 5 Board meeting, approved two separate agreements that will keep Stone Creek providing clean, reliable power to EWEB customers.

The first is a five-year Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA) with Energy Northwest to operate the hydroelectric plant and the transmission line running from the plant to EWEB's Harriet Lake Substation. The second agreement is a 10-year contract with Portland General Electric to operate the transmission line that ties the Harriet Substation into PGE's Oak Grove Substation, where the output from Stone Creek ties into the regional grid.

"I'm probably one of the few people that remembers when this project was initiated," said EWEB Commissioner Dick Helgeson, who represents customers in South Eugene Wards 2 and 3 and is a retired EWEB executive with 32 years prior utility experience. "In my experience, this has been one of the better small hydro projects that EWEB has invested in over the years."

Hydroelectric plants are carbon-free generation resources. Because it's fueled by water, the Northwest's hydropower base does not produce air pollution or greenhouse gas emissions. Nearly 80 percent of Eugene's power comes from hydroelectric projects.

EWEB is licensed by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to operate Stone Creek through 2038. In addition to Stone Creek, EWEB customers own three McKenzie River hydro generation projects: Leaburg and Walterville hydroelectric projects, and Carmen-Smith.

Decisions such as retaining the Stone Creek project are part of EWEB's ongoing Electricity Supply Planning effort, a process that helps utilities understand the resources, technology, and infrastructure that will be needed to meet customers' future electricity needs.

"The most significant decisions confronting EWEB in the next decade involve sources of supply," said Frank Lawson. "We are looking at factors such as climate change and evolving customer expectations, and making generation resources choices that not only meet today's needs but also provide flexibility for serving our community under a variety of future conditions."

Watch a short video clip of Frank Lawson describing some of the benefits of the Stone Creek Project.