Your PUD
News Release
SNAP program gets new focus
Chelan County PUD
News Release
9/14/2009
Now in its ninth year, the Sustainable Natural Alternative Power program is getting new attention at the PUD with more assistance for owners and a new emphasis on support from customers, PUD commissioners were told on Monday.
Susan Gillin, customer service administrator, now leads the project for the PUD and has been working with the 45 SNAP producers to revitalize the program. She has helped find expertise and, in some cases, funding to make repairs to systems which are installed mostly at schools and non-profit organizations. She’s hoping to also spur more customers to support SNAP by paying a little extra on their electric bills for alternative power.
“As little as a dollar a month will help,” Gillin said.
SNAP started in 2001 as an award-winning “green” program. In the 2008-2009 production year, its 45 producers generated 117,000 kilowatt hours of electricity and received just over $26,000 in payments that came from customer contributions.
Learn more about SNAP at www.chelanpud.org/snap.html.
Public to tour Chelan River restoration project
Public tours of the revitalized Chelan River will be offered Saturday, Oct. 17, as part of annual Public Power celebrations. The tours were announced during a presentation to commissioners about the $15.9 million Chelan River project which includes enhancements to the stream and the powerhouse tailrace for spawning steelhead and Chinook salmon; a new pump station to assure adequate water for spawning fish, and a low-level outlet at the Chelan dam that will provide a minimum stream flow through the river year-round.
Public tours will be self-guided with stations where visitors can see all four parts of the project. A project commemoration ceremony and tours for agency representatives and stakeholders will be held in November.
Testing of the new project starts this week and will continue for about two weeks. Year-round flow is scheduled to begin Oct. 15.
The river restoration is required by the federal license for the Chelan hydro project and must be monitored for 10 years to assure that it meets a list of biological objectives.
In other business commissioners:
- Heard that starting Oct. 1, the PUD office in Chelan will close each day from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. so the clerk there can go to lunch. The change is a cost-cutting measure.
- Heard proposed updates to the Utility Services policies for water line extensions and new water rights acquisition policies that will be submitted as a resolution to commissioners Oct. 5.
- Received a special thank you from the Andrew York Lineman Rodeo Committee for supporting this year’s rodeo which raised $13,000 for scholarships.
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The next regular meeting of the PUD commission will begin at 1 p.m. on Monday, Sept. 21, in the boardroom at PUD headquarters, 327. N. Wenatchee Ave.
Most PUD commission meetings are recorded, and a link to the audio is available on the PUD’s home page at http://www.chelanpud.org.
Jeri Freimuth
Chelan County PUD
(509) 661-4504
(509) 668-0267 cell
Jeri.freimuth@chelanpud.org