Frankly Speaking

In the latest episode of Frankly Speaking, General Manager Frank Lawson reflected on his recent retirement announcement, sharing why he believes now is the right moment for a leadership transition at EWEB. 

Frank underscored how the timing works for the organization. EWEB is moving into the latter half of its 10-year strategy, adopted in 2018, and preparing for what comes next. “We’ve made a lot of good progress,” he noted. “But this is also an opportunity to take a step back and ask: what’s next for the utility? A new General Manager can help lead us into that next chapter.”

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In the latest episode of Frankly Speaking, General Manager Frank Lawson sat down with EWEB At-Large Commissioner Mindy Schlossberg to talk about her journey to the board, her experiences so far, and her perspective on the challenges and opportunities ahead for the utility.

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EWEB faced a choice on the future of our energy supply: lean into the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) to meet all our energy needs, or reserve some of that responsibility – and flexibility – for ourselves.

EWEB has chosen the second option.

The choice manifests in our BPA product, and we are going a product called “Block with Shaping.” The result is that our strategy of synchronizing energy supply with customer demand is more important than ever. The contract will help add value to our community by prioritizing customer programs that allow EWEB customers to be part of the solution to balance supply with demand.

In this episode of Frankly Speaking, EWEB General Manager goes into the details of the choice.

“On one side, the Northwest has access to a really, clean energy source at cost. So there's that combination that also it builds in some flexibility for us to really work with our customers,” said EWEB General Manager Frank Lawson. “And, the thing I'm most excited about going forward is this relationship between the supply side of what we're getting and supplying to the customer with how they're using it. And how they can help us. And so, that that alignment is probably what's most exciting to me. And the fact that it it's up to us to make it work.”

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In this episode of Frankly Speaking, Frank sits down with Chief Financial Officer and Assistant General Manager Deborah Hart to celebrate EWEB’s clean audit reported to the Board in June and to discuss the budget process moving forward through the end of the year.

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EWEB faces a choice between two good options, but it's a challenging choice nonetheless.

The choice is which Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) product EWEB should choose as we negotiate a new two-decade power supply contract with the federal agency that supplies roughly 80% of EWEB's power.

After rigorous analysis, EWEB narrowed the choice to one of two products: load following or block with shaping. Load following is a full-service product in which BPA will meet all of EWEB's current load, requirements, including our peak needs, but minus the contributions of most of EWEB's owned generating resources. Block with shaping is more of a do-it-yourself product in which EWEB takes a more active role in balancing load with resources. Load following presents a more dramatic shift from the way EWEB has historically operated, while block with shaping lies closer to the status quo.

In this episode of Frankly Speaking, EWEB General Manager Frank Lawson describes how he is leaning towards selecting the load following product – an initial leaning that he presented to EWEB's Board of Commissioners this week. This product will maximize EWEB's access to BPA's low-cost hydropower resources. 

Both products require that EWEB manage the output of our resources, such as Carmen-Smith. And another decision point lies ahead: In 2026 EWEB will decide if we want BPA to cover our load growth or if we want to do that ourselves.

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The methods that EWEB uses to source the energy that we deliver to customers could change in profound ways in the years ahead.

EWEB is on the cusp of a decision on a new contract with the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA). BPA provides roughly 80% of the electricity that EWEB supplies to the community. The current contract will end in 2028, and EWEB is in the process of determining the which of several BPA “products” we should opt for. 

The details are complex, but the importance is profound: The contract will cost between $2.3 to $2.8 billion over the next two decades, according to financial analysis conducted by EWEB staff. But the quantitative analysis isn’t the only driver to a good decision, since there are important qualitative factors to consider to ensure we optimize our current power portfolio.

And EWEB must make a decision soon. The deadline is July, with several milestones to reach before then. In this episode of Frankly Speaking, Frank discusses the process for choosing a new BPA product and the timeline for making the choice.

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The customers have spoken.

And they have a lot of good things to say about EWEB. 

EWEB's 2024 customer satisfaction survey indicates that customer satisfaction with essential services like water and electric reliability has significantly improved. However, affordability remains a priority for many customers.

The survey, conducted by independent research firm GreatBlue Research, Inc. gathered responses from nearly 1,300 residential customers. The findings indicate that overall customer satisfaction with EWEB has grown from 53% in 2022 to 65% in 2024, reflecting strong confidence in the utility’s priorities and initiatives.

In this episode of Frankly Speaking, General Manager Frank Lawson discusses those results, as well as the 2024 annual report that he presented to the Board of Commissioners.

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With the new year, EWEB's Board of Commissioners has approved a new set of strategic goals to guide the utility through 2025. In this episode of Frankly Speaking, General Manager Frank Lawson digs into each of the seven goals that the Board approved this month and discusses an eighth goal that the Board may add.

But how will those goals affect each team at EWEB? Some goals clearly pertain to certain teams, such as the Energy Division's work on energy supply contracts. Others will affect nearly the entire utility, such as formalizing an operational asset management plan.

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EWEB General Manager Frank Lawson talks with retiring Assistant General Manager Rodney Price about his career at EWEB, his advice for EWEBers and his plans for retirement. 

"There's never been a better time to work at EWEB," Rod says. “There’s the opportunity to do some things in the energy world that most utilities just don’t get those opportunities. So it’s fun, challenging, exciting – so exciting that I’m going to go play golf!”

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EWEB is making major investments across the utility that will have impacts spanning years and even decades. In this episode of Frankly Speaking, General Manager Frank Lawson discusses a series of investments the utility is making.

 The most notable for employees driving into the office recently has been EWEB Enterprise Solutions (EES). The parking lot is full, and the hallways are buzzing. The customer service team is helping customers adapt to the new portal, while other teams implement new processes.

Other major investments at the utility are also advancing. In Generation, a newly approved $18 million contract for consultants will help the team manage the Leaburg decommissioning. In the Energy Division, analysis continues on the potential contract options with the Bonneville Power Administration – a choice of between $2.5 and $3.2 million over the next couple decades.

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