EWEB is interested in renewable hydrogen because of its potential to help decarbonize energy sectors and provide resiliency in the event of a large-scale disaster in the Northwest.
The Eugene Water & Electric Board has received a new 40-year operating license for our largest utility-owned generation facility – the Carmen-Smith Hydroelectric Project on the upper McKenzie River. The new license, issued by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, will allow us to operate the carbon-free, renewable hydroelectric facility through at least May 2059. The project generates enough electricity to power nearly 16,000 homes.
As of 8 a.m. Saturday morning, there are just under 2,000 customers who remain without power. This includes a little over 200 in the Eugene area, and about 1,700 in the Mckenzie River Valley. Most of the remaining Eugene-area outages are single homes, which can be extremely labor intensive, particulalry those with accessibility issues, such as backyard service lines with no access for bucket trucks. We will continue to work until every customer is restored.
EWEB and contract crews made substantial progress restoring power to customers Friday, turning the lights back on for more than 1,000 customers.
We expect to restore about 1,000 customers in the Eugene area today. Please note that work conditions are dynamic and subject to change based on equipment damage, tree hazards and changing weather conditions.