Chelan PUD Studies Building Upgrades

Chelan County PUD Commissioners are studying plans for a new headquarters and operations center on property north of the Wenatchee River and building improvements at Rock Island and Rocky Reach Dams.

A PUD press release said the Board of Commissioners reviewed a facilities plan Monday that covers most of the buildings the PUD owns. The plan suggests that investments in new facilities could enhance the customer experience while producing long-term benefits for PUD customers through increased PUD employee productivity and reduced operation and maintenance costs.

The capital investments are estimated at $114 million for the combined headquarters and operations center; $36 million for Rock Island Dam and $33 million for Rocky Reach improvements.  No formal engineering or design work has been authorized so estimates are preliminary.

Dan Frazier, Shared Services director, said the nearly two-year look at PUD buildings was launched at the suggestion of customer-owners during strategic planning.  Frazier told commissioners the study concludes the improved PUD facilities would produce a number of benefits for the District and its customers like better power outage response time and better customer experience at the PUD from bill paying, to service requests and permit applications.  Frazier said other benefits would include higher employee productivity and the new buildings could aid recruiting and employee retention.  There were other benefits cited including safety concerns and cost predictability.  Frazier noted that a customer advisory group reviewed the facility options and recommends moving forward.

Commissioners will discuss the proposal at the April 3 meeting and take public comment.