Council asks staff to pursue talks with Emerald People's Utility District and explore feasibility study

Emerald People's Utility District (EPUD) General Manager Kyle Rodman presented to the Cottage Grove City Council on EPUD’s history, service territory and reasons the district is studying potential service to parts of Cottage Grove. After presentations from EPUD and a Pacific Power representative, the council voted to authorize staff to produce a council statement of interest and to work with EPUD to define a feasibility study.

Rodman said EPUD was formed after local residents organized to improve electric service and began operations in 1983. He said EPUD serves most of the surrounding county but not the downtown cores of several cities, creating “island” city situations. Rodman told the council EPUD currently serves roughly 841 addresses inside Cottage Grove’s city limits (out of just under 5,000 addresses in the city) and has about 87 local employees. He said EPUD’s recent customer surveys show roughly 90% satisfaction for reliability and that EPUD’s rates compare favorably in regional bill comparisons; he characterized EPUD as roughly 30% below the top area provider in many comparisons.

Pacific Power’s regional manager, Scott Salazar, told the council Pacific Power has supplied Cottage Grove since 1954, said the company is committed to continuing service and warned that acquiring the system would be complicated. Salazar said much of the equipment that serves Cottage Grove is Pacific Power’s and “the equipment is not for sale,” though he offered to answer council and public questions.

After questions about restoration times during the January 2024 ice storm (EPUD representatives said their full-district restoration took about 17 days and Pacific Power staff reported full restoration in Cottage Grove took about five to seven days), staffing and capital needs, the council considered whether to provide EPUD the formal signal its board requested to pursue a feasibility study. The motion the council approved directed staff to assist council in producing a statement of interest for EPUD, and to work with both EPUD and Pacific Power to gather information and develop a feasibility scope and cost to present back to council. The motion passed unanimously.

EPUD had requested a formal statement of interest — either a council vote or letter — before its board would commit resources to a feasibility analysis. Rodman said a feasibility study would examine the cost to acquire the incumbent system, potential staffing needs and capital improvements and estimate transition timing and rate impacts. He said EPUD would be willing to help fund or participate in the study but that costs and scope would need to be negotiated.

Ending: Council members said they wanted an apples‑to‑apples comparison and additional information from both utilities; staff will return with a proposed feasibility-study scope and cost and a draft statement of interest if the council wishes to proceed.