We are committed to providing dependable, not-for-profit public utility services governed by, and for the benefit of, our customers in a safe and environmentally-friendly manner since 1945. GENERAL INFORMATION
We serve approximately 16,000 customers in Okanogan County with approximately 1,365 miles of overhead and 382 miles of underground distribution lines. In addition, we provide wholesale telecommunications service via a fiber-optic and wireless network. Our main office is in the city of Okanogan, and we have additional offices in the towns of Oroville, Tonasket, Brewster, and Twisp. HISTORY
In 1939, Okanogan County voters approved forming their own public utility district. That action put in motion engineering studies, financing proposals, negotiations, and legal challenges with the existing power company, the Washington Water Power Company (WWP). This process consumed six years until May 11, 1945, when the Okanogan County PUD paid Washington Water Power $2,314,240.33 for the entire system in Okanogan County, including Enloe Dam and a transmission line from Chelan, and began operating its own electric system. Since then, we have provided county residences and businesses with a low-cost, reliable source of electrical energy. Residential rates in 1946 were 1.6 cents per kWh (kilowatt-hour). That cost steadily decreased to a low of 0.94 cents per KWH in 1975. Today’s rates are still some of the lowest in the Northwest, the nation, and the world. In 2001, we began providing wholesale, cost-based broadband service to retail service providers, who provide their service to the residents and businesses of Okanogan County. We have constructed an 82-mile fiber optic backbone from the Columbia River at Pateros to the Canadian border north of Oroville. In 2002, we began offering wholesale broadband services on wireless infrastructure. UNACCEPTABLE CONTENT
Content posted on this site will be retained according to retention laws but will be removed from public view if it violates applicable laws, rules, or regulations, such as:
a. Content that promotes, fosters, or perpetuates illegal discrimination of any kind
b. Sexual content or links to sexual content
c. Solicitations of commerce (spam)
d. Conduct or encouragement of illegal activity
e. Information that may tend to compromise the safety and/or security of the public and/or public systems
f. Content that violates a legal ownership interest of any other party
g. Threats of harm or violence against any person or entity
h. Content containing defamation (false assertions of fact that cause damage against an individual)
i. Content containing links to malware
