As the Grays Harbor PUD reaches the end of its 85th year of service, I could not be prouder of our team and everything we’ve accomplished. 2025 was a year of change, with longtime employees departing, new hires arriving, significant projects completed, and an ever-evolving energy landscape.
Through it all, we enter our 86th year in a strong position, continuing to fulfill our mission of delivering high value utility services at the lowest practical cost.
The coming year brings a new team. In 2025, we had several key people retire from our office and field departments. We will miss them and their great work, even as we welcome new employees who have joined the PUD team. They and the current staff who have moved up to take on new roles will propel the utility forward.
We’re starting the New Year on a solid foundation. The Board of Commissioners recently approved the 2026 budget. In a time of rising costs on many items, including energy, I was pleased that the utility was able to absorb those increases with no plan to raise customer rates in 2026.
Our crews continue to earn their reputation as some of the hardest workers in the business. Over the past year, they responded quickly and professionally to outages across the county, restoring power to customers as safely and quickly as possible. Our system continues to stand up to the rigors of life on the Washington coast because of the hard work our crews and engineers put into design and construction.
Projects like the new Central Park substation and the transmission line relocation along state Route 105 near Westport are examples of the excellent progress in maintaining and modernizing the system that powers Grays Harbor.
The PUD telecommunications department continues to grow with the construction of new high speed fiber optic lines in south Elma and Oakville, where over 500 customers are either under- or un-served with high-speed connections. That will change thanks to the work of our team, a grant through the Washington State Broadband Office, and helpful contractors.
We want 2026 to be a year of cooperation and vigorous discussion on the future of energy generation. After years of utilities sounding the alarm, a few real-world events like the 2021 heat dome, the 2024 Martin Luther King Day cold snap, and the continued growth of energy dependent server farms require that we pay more attention to our energy future. Working with our elected leaders and others in the industry, we want better awareness, focus and solutions in 2026.
I want to thank you for the honor of serving as the PUD’s general manager. It’s a big responsibility, which is made easier by teaming with over 160 professionals who come to work every day ready to serve. If you have questions or need anything from your PUD, please contact us. Happy Holidays!
