Counting on Oklahoma power …

GRDA, Municipal Customers Extend Beneficial Partnerships

GRDA Pensacola Dam inside powerhouse: A closer look at the hdyroelectric turbine generators inside the Grand River Dam Authority's Pensacola Dam. The six generating units were the first hydroelectric units in Oklahoma. Rebuilt in the late 1990s and equipped with state-of-the-art, efficient components, they are still an important part of GRDA's electric generation efforts. Hydroelectricity, in combination with GRDA's Coal Fired Complex, provide the low-cost electric generation mix that has powered Oklahoma communities for decades.

GRDA Coal Fired longshot: Located east of Chouteau, on the southern edge of the MidAmerica Industrial Park, the Grand River Dam Authority's two-unit Coal Fired Complex provides the base load generation for GRDA's electricity customers across a 24-county service area. In October 2007, GRDA completed a record-setting project at the facility when it successfully installed new turbine-generator control equipment on Unit 2 in three weeks' time. No other power plant in the country has ever completed the same type of project in less than six weeks. Comprehensive preventive maintenance at the facility has helped GRDA maintain a reputation as Oklahoma's reliable, low-cost power supplier.

Vinita -- Three credit rating improvements — and one credit rating upgrade — since March 2005; the lowest electrical rates in the region; a reputation for reliable, customer-focused service; and a history of beneficial public power partnerships, most of which are over half a century old.

The Grand River Dam Authority feels those are some of the reasons why customer confidence in the electric utility is running high these days. So high in fact, by the end of 2007, 14 of GRDA’s 16 wholesale municipal electric customers had signed new 35-year contracts, counting on GRDA to be their power supplier for many years to come.

“We appreciate the great confidence these communities have placed in GRDA to be their power supplier and public power partner for decades to come,” said GRDA Chief Executive Officer Kevin Easley.

“Negotiating this new long term contract was a complicated process, but we feel the same way our customers do; it’s beneficial to both parties.”

The new long-term contract benefits wholesale customers because they are insured that GRDA’s low-cost reliable electricity will continue to power their communities at cost-of-service rates. In turn, GRDA’s low cost power insures a revenue stream for these municipals.

“The electric power provided by GRDA benefits the municipal customers we serve by providing them a product at a low price they can in turn sell to their customers,” said GRDA Superintendent of Revenues Jennifer Weatherford. “This source of revenue for the municipality is not only a benefit for their community, but the surrounding area as well.”

That benefit is at the very core of the public power ideal of local ownership and local control of the electric distribution system. In fact, the 35-year contract extension between GRDA and its public power partners mirrors national trends. According to the American Public Power Association, interest in public power is high, with 20 new public power utilities forming in the United States since 1997. Only two were sold to investor-owned utilities during that same span.

Stanley Day is the general manager of the Tahlequah Public Works Authority (TPWA); one of the municipal utilities that has partnered with GRDA for over 50 years and recently approved the new contract.  Public power’s affects on his community are obvious, he said.

“I see the benefits of public power everyday and TPWA is a wonderful, big asset to the community,” said Day.

Those benefits help spur economic development in Tahlequah, which is among Oklahoma’s fastest growing communities. Tahlequah is also the seat of Cherokee County, which was listed as the third-fastest growing county in the 2000 census. Delaware County, home to the majority of GRDA’s Grand Lake was ranked first, while Rogers County, where GRDA serves the county seat of Claremore, was ranked second.

“The GRDA mission has always been to provide low-cost reliable power and to be an economic development partner in the region,” said Easley. “The track record speaks for itself, but our customers’ dedication to our beneficial partnerships also reinforces that GRDA is power for progress in Oklahoma.”

Day, who also serves as chairman of the GRDA Municipal Customer Group, echoed that sentiment.

“I’ve made a recommendation to each member of the municipal customer group to make recommendations to their boards and councils to execute this long term contract,” Day told the GRDA Board at its October 2007 meeting. “We believe this is a great partnership.”

Providing the best power to customers…

Of course, reaching the new agreement came after two years of negotiations and research. During that time, the customer group hired its own consultant to review the GRDA option and to determine if any other power suppliers could meet or exceed the advantages of GRDA. In the end, the partnerships that have spurred growth, development and economic success in these communities for 50-plus years, is the same partnership they are counting on for the next 35.

“We studied other utility providers and found that GRDA is the only feasible option to serve our load and provide an appropriate cost,” said Claremore Assistant City Manager Matt Mueller when the contract was presented to the Claremore City Council in December 2007. That council gave the contract unanimous approval.

“When we considered the length of the contract, we did look at other municipal and private providers,” said Mueller, “but GRDA was the best deal for Claremore. With GRDA, we feel we have the ability to work together to provide the best power to customers.”

Meanwhile, other municipal utilities are also counting on the public power partnership to help them meet their objectives.

“Our mission is to be the premier city owned utility company in Oklahoma,” said Mike Doublehead, general manager of Stilwell Utilities, another GRDA municipal customer. “We want to provide dependable and reliable electricity to the city of Stilwell and our partnership with GRDA helps us to do that.”