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Ty Ehrman of Grant Public Utility District on Supply Chain Issues, Employee Retention, and Increasing Generation
Wanapum Dam on the Columbia River.
G
rant Public Utility District (PUD) operates two Columbia River dams to bring power to the rural, predominantly agricultural region of Grant County in north-central Washington State. The customer-owned public utility has low rates that are attractive to new industries moving to the area. In this interview, Grant PUD’s managing director of power production, Ty Ehrman, speaks with Hydro Leader about dealing with supply chain issues, retaining employees in a new era of hybrid work, and seeking out additional generation capacity. Hydro Leader: Please tell us about your background and how you came to be in your current position.
18 | HYDRO LEADER | July/August 2022
Ty Ehrman: Grant PUD is a customer-owned public utility district in north-central Washington State. We are essentially dependent on one water source: the Columbia River. We operate two Columbia River dams and two smaller hydro generators and deliver power to more than 50,000 customers over a sparsely populated 2,777‑squaremile area. We have about 740 employees, 280 of them on the power production side. We have a generation capacity of 2,153.6 megawatts, with an 850‑megawatt retail power delivery system peak load. Hydro Leader: What other similar facilities are above and below you on the Columbia River? Ty Ehrman: We’re the third PUD on the mid-Columbia. There are three dams above us that are also run by PUDs. Above that are Chief Joseph Dam, which is owned by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and Grand Coulee Dam, which is owned by the Bureau of Reclamation. A lot of our hydroleadermagazine.com
PHOTOS COURTESY OF GRANT PUD.
Ty Ehrman: I came to the industry from heavy equipment manufacturing, where I worked as an engineering manager. I joined Grant PUD 12 years ago and worked as an engineer, maintenance planner, supervisor, and plant manager before starting my current position as the managing director of power production. I run the power generation side of our business.
Hydro Leader: Please introduce Grant PUD.
