Chelan, Douglas and Grant PUD Leaders to Address Business Roundtable

The General Managers of the three Mid-Columbia Public Utility Districts will discuss the challenges the utilities face at a business roundtable later this month.  It is believed to be the first local meeting where Kirk Hudson of Chelan PUD, Gary Ivory with Douglas PUD  and Rich Wallin from Grant PUD will appear together in decades.

Steve Maher, coordinator of Our Valley, Our Future will serve as moderator of the event on Jan. 25th in Pybus Public Market.  "The PUD's approached Our Valley, Our Future asking us about hosting an event called The Future of Energy In Our Valley.  I think is a reflection of the three  PUD's working together .  It's meant to educate the business community about the challenges they face"

Maher said the PUD's want to have a discussion and update an invited group of about 60 business leaders on the challenges hydroelectric utilities are facing.  "I have heard it said more than once the amount of change in the energy industry in the past few years is far greater than in the last fifty years"

Maher says topics will range from the challenges of emerging electric vehicle infrastructure, federal and state climate policy, snowpack, water, power generation, energy demand from data centers, aging facilities, the impact of population growth, workforce challenges for employee retention and training.

As an example of emerging electric vehicle infrastructure demand, Maher says he has learned one car dealership may require more vehicle charging capability than power demands currently required for a town the size of Waterville.