The Economic Current
The Economic Current is a podcast designed for small businesses and entrepreneurs who want insight, resources, and local perspective. Through conversations with business owners and community leaders, we explore economic development in action so listeners leave better informed, more connected, and ready to engage in their community’s progress.
The Economic Current
Celebrating Public Power Week: Conversations with Mason PUD 1
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What does public power look like in some of Mason County’s most rural communities? In celebration of Public Power Week, Tiana sits down with Mason PUD 1 General Manager Kristin Masteller to talk about Washington’s first public utility district and the role electricity and water infrastructure play in supporting rural communities and economic development. They dive into the challenges of maintaining infrastructure along Hood Canal, planning for future growth, securing millions in grant funding, expanding broadband access, and why understanding power and water availability is so important before developing property. Plus, Tiana gets Kristin’s side of one of Mason County’s great mysteries: What happened to PUD 2?
#PublicPowerWeek #PublicPower #MasonPUD1 #MasonCountyWA #MasonEDC #EconomicDevelopment #EconDev #Energy #Water #Infrastructure #Broadband
Check out:
Mason PUD 1 Website - https://masonpud1.org/
Canal Comfort Fund & Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP
)- https://mason-pud1.org/payment-assistance/
Economic Development Council of Mason County - https://masonedc.org/
What's going on, Mason County, and welcome back to the Economic Current, the podcast where we explore the people, partnerships, and ideas shaping Mason County's economy. I'm your host, Tiana Dunbar, with the Economic Development Council of Mason County. October 4th through 10th is Public Power Week, an annual national celebration organized by the American Public Power Association to recognize community-owned, locally operated electric utilities and the role that they play in the communities that they serve. As we continue celebrating Public Power Week, today we're joined by Kristen Masteller, General Manager for Mason PewD1. We'll be talking about public power, the unique role that PUD One plays in serving some of our most rural communities, and something we didn't get to dive into as much in our last Public Power Week conversation: water. Thank you for joining us today on the podcast, Kristen. How are you? I'm well, thank you. Thanks for the invite, Tiana. Absolutely. Thank you for being here. Uh, if you've tuned into the podcast before, you know I like to spend some time getting to know our guests before diving headfirst into the topic. So, Kristen, you've been with PUD1 for a little over 15 years now and have served as general manager since 2018. But your background in public service actually goes back even further than that. So, can you take us on a little journey? Where did your career start? How did that path eventually lead you here to uh PUD One?
SPEAKER_02Thank you. Um, yeah, it's kind of an interesting journey. Uh when I was in college, I always had two jobs. So I had like a day job working in different offices, getting that resume experience, and then I also had a night and weekend job working at a resort doing like food service and beverage service. So one job was to build my career, the other was money to pay for gas and fund money and that sort of thing. So when I was in college, I temped a lot for Simpson Timber Company at the time, who later turned into Green Diamond Resource Company. So I worked for that company for years in different, all different areas in their administrative offices. And when a position opened at their McClary plant, the Simpson Door Company plant, I got a full-time regular job with them after college. And that was in McClary. And then eventually I started like representing the company in different community organizations. So my boss sent me to be like the representative on the Chamber of Commerce. And so through those relationships, through the chamber, I actually met Renee Jensen, who at the time was the CEO for Mark Reed Hospital District. And she's like, I really would like you to come work for us. And she actually created a position at the hospital district for me, which was very nice and flattering and all that. So I made this shift from private sector to public sector and worked at a very small rural critical access hospital in McCleary for about two years. And I worked directly supporting the CEO, and then I was on the management team. I did all their marketing, communications, similar to what you do for the EDC. And then I also ran their hospital foundation. So I did the bulk of like their fundraising and outreach to raise money for their programs. So are you local to Mason County? Yes. So I live on the west end of Mason County out in Matlock. And I lived in Grace Harbor for a while when I was in college and then moved back to like the Lake Nowatsell area. And then as uh, you know, later in my adulthood, I lived out in Agate and drove to McClary every day. And so I've moved around in different areas, but ultimately, you know, my goal was to find the right position here back in Mason County. And then after working in the hospital district, I knew that I wanted to stay in public sector, public service. So I went back to college and got my master's degree in public administration because I knew after working in, you know, like executive leadership roles, that that's that's where I wanted to be. So I um, weirdly enough, got a message from a lady I used to attempt for at Simpson. I'm bringing the story back around here. Um, she was friends with a lady that was retiring from Mason POD one. They played cards or something together every week. And she's like telling my mother, who she worked with, you should tell Kristen about this opportunity. I think this would be a good fit for her. And I wasn't looking to leave the hospital district, but it was a really good job. So I applied. I interviewed, showed them all the cool things I was doing for the hospital district and got the job. When going to college, was it important for you to stay local after you got your degree or not necessarily like it wasn't a conscious decision, but um, you know, I was getting to the point where I knew I wanted to start a family and do some other things, and it just all the cards kind of fell in the right spots and I and it worked out. And I'm really glad it did because one of the rewarding things about my career, and I say this in the different public um, you know, meetings and stuff that it that I do out in the community is it's not lost on me or my coworkers how fortunate we are to have these jobs, especially to have them in the communities that raised us. And so being able to give back to the neighbors, the the friends in the communities that put so much into us as youth and coming up through our careers, it's nice to be able to give back.
SPEAKER_01Well, and I think Mason County is incredibly lucky that we got to retain talent such as your own. Thank you. But rural public hospital district, so what drew you to public service in the first place? How did you how did you know that that's where you wanted to be?
SPEAKER_02At the hospital districts, it was great because like I said, I was raising money for different programs. So like one of the programs we decided to start was helping low-income patients with their prescriptions if they didn't have insurance. And so it was like, oh, I think I'll put together this little fundraiser and all of a sudden we're raising $500. And then I cut the check to the pharmacy for the people the next week that needed the prescription. And so it was that immediate gratification, like this little bit of effort and energy going into doing something for somebody else, and then getting everybody on board to do it was was exciting. And then I got to see that like immediate gratification of the effort that we put in made a difference in somebody's life.
SPEAKER_01And so working in a rural healthcare setting and then moving to like a rural utility, was there kind of some similarities or you know? It was it was tough, actually. Yeah, I feel like it's a lot harder.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, it well, and just the everything in the utility world moves so slowly. You know, I didn't have the ability to just quickly implement things and push them through and get that immediate gratification I was referring to. Like it took it takes a lot of planning. The service model is obviously very different. So it took a while to like get used to that change of pace and find the niche of like, where do I fit in this puzzle and how am I going to make the biggest impact?
SPEAKER_01Well, you've done a really good job with PUD. Thank you. And you've been with PUD now for 15 years. What essentially has kept you there in public utilities, um, specifically with PUD One?
SPEAKER_02It's my team. Like hands down, it's my team. And I get, I mean, not not to sound like braggy, but I get offered a lot of jobs like often throughout the year from larger utilities that are looking for like succession planning or um different partners that are like, hey, I could use somebody on my team like you. Are you interested in this role? And every time, even though these are like large organizations that are offering me a lot more money than I'm making where I'm at, um, my answer is no. I'm like, I legitimately love the team that I work with. And they're the reason that I've been there this long, they're the reason that I'm gonna stay. As long as I have the same board, you know, a good board to work for and a good team that we're all rowing in the same direction. We all have the same mentality regarding um public service, and we're and we're kicking butt. We're doing really good work. So as long as that ball keeps rolling in the direction it's rolling, that's where I'm gonna stay. There's nothing that's gonna entice me to leave that.
SPEAKER_01Hearing that people are trying to headhunt you makes me clutch my pearls a little bit because we are so fortunate to have somebody like you at the helm of PUD1. What is it about the communities along Hood Canal that you enjoy serving? Like what's interesting about those communities that you serve?
SPEAKER_02It's really a throwback model of service that you don't see very often today. I think because we are so low-key, low-tech out there, it's not a big fancy top of the line technology. There's nothing shiny and blingy about us. We are in the same building that was built in 1957 with the same shop from 1957. We have outgrown it. I mean, we are gonna have to get a new facility pretty soon. But everything about us is just very low-key and it works, it's a good niche and it works for us and our customer service delivery models that way too. Like the customers are used to calling and recognizing who answers their call. Like, oh, oh hi Cassandra, or oh hi, Lily. The linemen are people that you know, our older linemen who have been there for 20 plus years are are people they knew as kids. Maybe their kids went to high school with them. So it's just kind of that old-timey delivery model of customer service, and they're so appreciative of it. And they make an extra effort to show their appreciation for the service that they get from us. And so, I mean, that's not to say everybody's 100% satisfied with us all the time. We do have rough weeks where it feels like all the um criticism or if somebody's upset, it all happens all at once, but it's few and far between. Like overwhelmingly, they're all very supportive of their public utility district and they're protective of it. Very protective of it.
SPEAKER_01Well, that's good to hear. How has PUD One changed since you first joined the organization?
SPEAKER_02I think our capacity is the biggest thing. Our numbers haven't increased that much. Like I think there was 22 employees when I started working there, and we're at 27 now, 15 years later. So five employees, you know, that's not a lot, but it's enough that it's making a difference. And when I talk about my team, you know, my success is because of them. Like they're very high functioning, high capacity individuals, and they take on a lot, they wear a lot of different hats. And so really our success is driven by these people that are feeding into the culture, like they've bought into it and they're there for the right reasons. And they literally say that like I'm here for the team, I'm here for the POD. And those are the kind of people I want on my team. I've been very selective with who I pick because one bad egg can kind of upset all of it. And so we're just high functioning right now, firing on all cylinders, and they just really do extraordinary work.
SPEAKER_01Aaron Powell A well-oiled machine for sure. Well, since we're celebrating Public Power Week, uh for someone listening who may have missed our conversation with PUD3, can you give us the quick version? Um, what does it mean to be a public utility and why does local ownership matter?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, local control is one of our like core values. And so I think the benefits of being um served by a public utility district obviously are are you have a say in your local government. You have a say in how your utilities ran. And the way you do that is you vote for your locally elected commissioners and they represent you in your interests. And then the other um thing about public power is that we're not for profit. So there aren't huge coffers of money. And I think people have that misconception a lot that, oh, the the PUD has tons of money. We actually don't. We operate on an incredibly slim operating margin every year. We fund our reserves, we pay our bills, we pay our people, and we invest, you know, very strategically back into the system for that reliability. The other thing that's very noticeable that sets us apart from the private power sector is um the response time. So when we have huge storms and different events that impact service, we have mutual aid agreements with all of our other PUDs on the west side of the state. So I was just sitting with a colleague earlier this week, and she lives in Olympia, and she's talking about how often her power goes out in Olympia that she had to get a generator and she lives almost downtown. And when their power is out, it's out for a long time. Well, that's because the larger private sector utilities don't have this network that we have on the public side. Like if we know we're going to be out of power on the Hood Canal for more than a day, I'm making phone calls. I'm calling Jefferson PewDiePie, I'm calling City of McClary, I'm calling PewDiePie and saying, hey, we need help. Can you get somebody out here today?
SPEAKER_01Does serving primarily rural communities kind of change how things are done that way? I mean, you don't have a lot of people that are yeah.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, there's definitely um an economy of scale issue for us. Yeah. We have about 9,000 meters total. So that's power, that's water, that's wastewater, and that's a little tiny bit of telecom. So that's not a lot of people paying into a system. In while our system might be smaller, the components that make up the system cost the same if you live in rural Mason County as it does if you live in Seattle. You know, the transformers are the same price, the wires the same price.
SPEAKER_01Right. Right. That's important to make that distinction. So PUD1 is actually a pretty incredible distinction itself. You're Washington State's first public utility district.
SPEAKER_00Yes.
SPEAKER_01Can you kind of take us back a little bit? How did PUD1 specifically get started and what need was the community trying to fill?
SPEAKER_02Aaron Powell It was an interesting dynamic in the 30s. Um a lot of rural areas were struggling to have the essential services that the more urban areas were enjoying, and electricity was one of them. It was a luxury. And there was a big fight from all the local timber companies that own these giant landowners were trying to push back against public utility strict formation because they didn't want to be taxed to pay for it. And um, I can't speak for PewDiePie because I don't know what their setup is, but for PewDiePie, we don't leverage our taxing authority. So we don't, we can, we have taxing authority, but we don't. The ratepayers are the ones that pay into the system. But Morrison Pixley was a gentleman that was one of the founding fathers of Union when it was an artist colony, and he did a big push locally to get PewDie One on the ballot. And there was already some existing infrastructure from what is now Hood Canal Communications, but before it was like Hood Canal Mutual Company or something similar to that. And there was already some electrical infrastructure along the canal. And so when PewDie One was formed, when it was on the ballot in 1934 and it was approved, we began operations in February of 1935, and we bought that electric system from the the mutual company. And then we eventually expanded up the canal all the way up to Mount Walker and Brennan and then out Union out to about Tawano and then eventually down Skokomish Valley Road. Did you guys start with both power and water, or did water come later? Water came about 10 years later. So in I can't remember which year it was in the 40s, though, we got our first water system, which was the Union Water System. So we did power and water in union, and then slowly we started acquiring more systems.
SPEAKER_01And did you guys decide to acquire the water system because it was what the community had asked you for?
SPEAKER_02I believe so back in the 40s. My recollection is um the folks that owned the water system in union when they passed away, um, it was deeded over that the PUD would start operating it. And then it just made sense since they were stapped up and had the the expertise to do that, that they would start picking up the other systems in the area.
SPEAKER_01We had a little bit of fun in our last episode with Sheila trying to solve the mystery. I think you know where this is going, of what happened to PUD2. Right. Uh so she tells me that you, her, and Joel Meyer have PewD2 shirts. So Kristen, I have to get your side of the story. What happened to PUD2?
SPEAKER_02So after PUD1 was already operating, I think it was the next year, it might have been two years later, uh, there were initiatives on the on the ballot to um expand public power throughout Mason County. So our the meets and bounds of our service territory were defined by the canal. I don't know why they didn't just expand it into you know a countywide initiative. There was a lot of politicking back then and jockeying back and forth. So there ended up being um two initiatives. One was really PUD two was really specific to like the Agate area, and then PUD three encompassed all the rest of the county. And then I think somebody was like, hey, it's a little bit ridiculous to have three PUDs in one county. Why don't we merge? And two merged into three for whatever reason, I guess, because of the meets and bounds drawings. And then eventually they were approved and started operating, but we were already in existence and already had our thing going. So that's why we're the only county in the state that has two operating public utility districts. There's a lot of other counties that have like little co-ops or municipal power in addition to either PUDs or private power. So there are other counties that have different um electric utilities, but we're the only one that has two PUDs.
SPEAKER_01That is interesting. Well, let's fast forward about 90 years. Okay. Um what does PUD one look like today? We mentioned some water, we mentioned electricity, but you said that there's some other services that you guys offer. Um can you tell me what those are?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, we have one very small community septic system that we run. We have certified wastewater operators on staff. And then we actually picked up a broadband project, oddly enough, even though that's not our business model.
SPEAKER_01Aaron Powell I did have some questions about that later, so we'll definitely get into that. But yeah, let's let's dive more into the water, because I'm definitely really interested in hearing about this. I it it's not usual for a public utility district to manage a water utility, correct?
SPEAKER_02Oh no, it it's very common. Okay. Yeah. There's several PUDs throughout the state that do water. There's some that are just water utilities. So like Thurston PewDie only does water. Kids at PewDieP used to only do water, now they do water and broadband. So it's actually a pretty common service model. PUD One has it was 77 systems, but we consolidate, we're as we're moving through, we're consolidating small neighboring systems into larger, you know, one system. It's easier administratively. It's actually a strategic goal of the state to not have so many small rural water systems to do consolidation where it makes sense. So I think Brandy would tell you that we really only have like 74 or 75 now because we've improved them and consolidated them. But it's a lot, and we're throughout all of Mason County. So we have four water techs, and they might in one day drive out to Matlock because we have a system in Matlock. We also manage Merriam Knight School's water system, and then they might have to trek it up to Tawano, or they might have to go up to Eldon. Like we have water systems everywhere throughout the county, and they're all very small.
SPEAKER_01You said 74, 75 different water systems alone. That's a lot to when I hear that number, I think 77 different sets of infrastructures challenges. Um how does that work?
SPEAKER_02It's it's it's a challenge. Our water department does such a great job. Brandy Milroy is the water resource manager and TJ Ghost is the superintendent. And the two of them just had to get super organized. We have priority lists of like water system plants that need to be updated every six years to ten years. Every system has its own list of infrastructure improvements or treatment programs that need to be installed. Um, and then we had just have our punch list of maintenance items and mainline that needs to be repaired. And so they just had to get super organized with it. And then every year we sit down and we do our strategic planning and we talk about like what needs to be done next year based on the priority list. And then we start knocking them out. And then we look ahead, you know, three to five years ahead and say, what are some projects that we know need to happen? Do they need a reservoir? Do they need all the mainline replaced? Do they need treatment installed? And then we start going after grant funding for that because it takes about two years, if you're successful, to get those contracts underway and get the construction started.
SPEAKER_01That is a heavy lift for your team, especially in rural Mason County. I imagine that there's different parts of the county that you're having to go out to all the time. That's that's a big lift. Thank you for the work that you guys do. Um, for someone who's looking to maybe build in rural Mason County, loves the natural beauty of the area. Um how important is it to understand water availability before they purchase or develop a property?
SPEAKER_02It's critical. And it's part of the reason why the county requires that water adequacy form before they will issue a building permit. And we did some outreach several years ago with the realtors about making sure that when they are marketing properties that they're listing whether or not there's available water connections. And also to make sure that, like, are all the fees paid up? Because we get a lot of folks that will purchase a property and not realize that that system's capped at connections were not able to issue any more connections, or they'll realize that the people before them didn't pay any of the fees into the system and the water was disconnected and now it's a $4,700 buy-in fee, and that wasn't included on the escrow and stuff like that. So I think if anybody's going to build, whether it's residential, commercial, whatever it is, it's really important as part of your due diligence on that property to check to see what the water availability is. And then, you know, we are not restrictive. If people can't get on the system, we allow them to drill permit exempt wells in our in our retail service area. A lot of utilities don't do that, but we're of the opinion that if it's something that we can't get to to accommodate you, it shouldn't prohibit you from being able to develop your property.
SPEAKER_01How does someone determine whether PUD1 water is available? Do they just contact you? So like maybe they're looking at a property and well, I heard that you know you you've worked with the realtors so that they're now promoting, you know, if there's water available. Yeah. But if there's not, they should be reaching out to you.
SPEAKER_02Aaron Powell Yeah, they should be calling the PUD. Um, Brandy and Madison and the water department will be able to look up the parcel and determine A, are we even the service provider? Because there's a lot of private water service providers or HOAs that provide that service. And then B, are there connections available? And if there's not, um, are we actively working on a solution to that? Because a lot of the systems have the things that limit our capacity are like first we have to look at the water rights is how much water are we legally able to pump out of the ground and where can that water go? That's on our on our water rights certificate. So that's the first hurdle. The second is pumps and pipes. Is the infrastructure in the ground sufficient to support full build-out? And when it's not, that's when we're putting in the reservoirs and the booster stations. And that's what our focus is right now to get that infrastructure ready so all of these properties can build out and connect to a public water supply.
SPEAKER_01So I guess you kind of just answered my question in a roundabout way. Um but and this seems like a no-brainer question to ask, but what does it mean when a water system has limited or no available connections? You kind of just have to make it.
SPEAKER_02Sometimes it's a issue of just it's fully built out and there isn't any there isn't any opportunity to expand. And the other of it is just system constraints. And that for decades was really the rub on a lot of it. There's people that have been on waiting lists for decades to connect to a system. And because the um systems were individually budgeted, and you know, you can't ask 25 customers to pay for $3 million of system improvements. And so we consolidated all of our finances. So it's just like the power business. Everybody pays the same into the same pot of money and we prioritize the work. But even so, it's still only about 3,500 water customers. It's still not enough to pay. So that's why when my team took over in 2018, we're like, we're tired of telling people no, let's come up with a plan of how we're gonna tackle this. And that's where the grant, like the pursuit of all the grant funding, has come in.
SPEAKER_01Yes. And I I have a mic drop moment later for how much money your team has brought in. It's substantial. Yeah. But we have to take a break.
SPEAKER_00If you grow food, shop local, or want to strengthen Mason County's food system, Market Ready Mason is for you. Learn more and connect with me, test at masonedc.org slash market ready mason.
SPEAKER_01All right, welcome back. How are you doing, Kristen? I'm fine. Hanging in there? I am. All right, all right. Well, I want to move into the economic development um connections here. This is an economic development podcast. We love that. At MasonEDC, we consistently talk about infrastructure as like the foundation for economic development. PUD1 is providing two of the most fundamental pieces of that puzzle, which is electricity and water. How does your team think about its role in supporting economic development? Is economic development a term that's that's ever used?
SPEAKER_02Oh, absolutely. I mean, I served on EDC's board for a decade. You know, I put in a good shift at Mason EDC before I stepped down. Um so that, you know, in our partnership with like Kel Rowan and her staff and Loretta Swanson and her staff in Public Works, we work together and collaborate often, like not just formally at like the EDC administrator meetings, but offline all the time too. Because we want to make sure that all the public sector agencies that are in charge of like managing and regulating growth and development are all on the same page as much as we possibly can be. And so again, when we were talking about my team's talking about what needs to happen to open up growth, open up development, um, those are the things we're focusing on. So health and safety is our obviously our primary focus, but then it's what do we need to do to help get some growth? We have such a housing needs shortage here in Mason County. Um, and just like the business sector as well. If they want to recruit quality employees, there needs to be a place for them to live. And we've struggled with that. Mason Health has struggled with that, the school district struggled with that. So that's how we see kind of like our role in the bigger economic development picture is what can we do to help facilitate um closing these gaps.
SPEAKER_01A lot of the communities that you serve um in Mason County are very geographically spread out. Um, what are some of the unique challenges of building and maintaining infrastructure in rural Mason County?
SPEAKER_02It's it's again the economy of scale is true. Because it's not like in the city where you build for the future capacity and then you wait for them to come. Like if you build it, they will come. In the rural areas, you have to be really strategic about where you're gonna put that investment because there's a finite amount of people that are gonna connect to the system, whether it's power or water. And so that's where the grant funding has helped us out because it's not something that we could justify putting on the backs of ratepayers just alone for development and growth. We have to really forge thoughtful partnerships with other agencies that recognize the constraints we have but still think it's worthwhile. Because the people in the most remote rural areas deserve the same access to these quality utility services that people in Shelton or Olympia or Seattle deserve. Does that create a lot of challenges being along the waterway? On the power side, absolutely. Yeah, what is that like? It's constant trees down. Oh constant trees down. Um, because you, you know, the you build the infrastructure in the right-of-way, the the utility right-of-way along the highway. And that that follows the windy shoreline of the Hood Canal. And so then you have this giant overhang of dense forest canopies. A lot of it's privately held, but it also borders the Olympic National Park and U.S. Forest Service land. And so we get asked often from a lot of times from people that are new to the area, why aren't you cutting all these trees down? Well, first of all, we're not allowed to. Right. We're allowed to maintain our right-of-way area that's prescribed of what we're allowed to trim. And then secondly, if we were to clear cut 50 to 100 feet of trees along the highway, uh, that would be the end of my career, I'm sure. Like there's just no way that people come out here and live out here for that backdrop and that scenery. For the trees. Yeah. So we've done a lot of work, a lot of partnership with FEMA, especially to either underground in sections where it makes sense to do so, or it's even physically able. There's a lot of our service area along the canal that we can't underground because it's all rock and there's there's no way to get the bore through or to put the lines in a different area. There's just no space. So it's one of those trade-offs. The people that have lived on the canal for a long time know that when the wind comes, the trees are gonna come down. And a lot of these trees are coming from 50, 75 feet off the right-of-way anyway, and they're just really huge trees and they take our lines down. So that's the biggest challenge for us. Luckily, our linemen, um, you know, one of the probably the number one thing that we get compliments on is our response time. They say we don't even worry because we know the power is gonna be back on in 90 minutes.
SPEAKER_01That's impressive. How do you balance the infrastructure needs with affordability? And and I think you you kind of touched on it that you guys go after a lot of grants.
SPEAKER_02We have to. There's just no way our 5700 electric customers, you know, like right now we're building a $12 million substation, a middle mile substation to help with resilience and and grid reliability. And how do you put $12 million on the backs of $5,700 meters? You can't. It's really tough when you have a small customer base. So that's where the partnerships come in play with FEMA, with our federal delegation, with our state delegation, with Mason County to find ways to bring that price point down because they still need that important infrastructure, but the affordability is the biggest challenge. And one of the things that I've said before when we were doing the ribbon cutting on our Manzanita campus in Union is you can look through our system maps and you can see from the 30s when they started all the way up to today, these like decades where they've had system reinvestment, either they're replacing poles or they're building new substations or whatever it is they're doing, and then you just see gaps. And it's not because the people didn't want to do the work or they lack the ability to plan and construct, it's because they were trying to keep the rates low. And so what my team is doing is trying to build like the next generation of infrastructure. So everything that we plan to construct is through a 50-year lens. And I want people to look back on my team and say, holy smokes, those guys built a lot of cool stuff. Yeah. And we have. And we've been able to do most of it with grant funding. And that's allowed us to do this, you know, 50-year generational infrastructure and do it without putting that pressure on our power rates because there's already enough things that are impacting our power rates. Um, there are unavoidable rate increases that we have to pass on. So any chance we get to solicit funding and assistance and partnerships to get this work done without costing our ratepayers more money, we're absolutely taking advantage of it.
SPEAKER_01And I think it's really important for people to understand that that's the framework that you guys approach everything at. You know, you really care about your ratepayers, the people that you serve. When a business or a developer is considering a site within PUD-1's service territory, what do you wish that they would ask before making a final decision?
SPEAKER_02I think it's important for them to have that pre-meeting with our engineering team and talk about a do we have the power capacity in that area and is the infrastructure sufficient to serve whatever it is they're looking to do? If it's a residents, it's not that big of a deal. But if they're looking to put in any kind of commercial development or um, you know, we get some farmers that have some processing stuff that they're doing, right? Uh, that requires three-phase power and it's not cheap to build that line extension out. So I think for everybody, especially before they're going to get their funding, if they're getting a loan to help support the construction, it's always a good idea to even just call and say, what do you have out here and what's available? And then for I think it's like a hundred dollar fee that you can pay and you can have that initial on-site meeting with our engineering team and walk through all those steps. Because I think if people know what they're looking at, it's easier for them to plan whether, you know, instead of just getting it and being, okay, we're ready to build, okay, great, but it's going to be $15,000 to put three-phase power two miles, you know, down the road, this dirt road, take your to your building. So I think just doing that again, due diligence, just like the water side. Let's get all the information up front and talk about what our plan of attack is before going after loans. Before going after the loan.
SPEAKER_01Yes. Yes, yes. See what's there first. So that's actually a really good segue. You mentioned a lot about building generational infrastructure. And in your most recent 2025 annual report, you guys talk about um building infrastructure for generations to enjoy. And I love that phrase. A lot of infrastructure serving your customers was originally built decades ago or inherited. What does building generational infrastructure mean to you?
SPEAKER_02So again, it's a 50-year lens. So the stuff that we are using now was a lot of it was put in in the 50s and 60s. So it's hitting the end of its useful life. And so it falls on my team to come up with ways of how we're going to replace it and have it available for the next 50 years of PD customers. And then in addition to that, putting in the resilience component, like the extra infrastructure, the extra things they need to make that grid more resilient, especially if we have a disaster or a storm. And so we are trying to set the next team up for success, where the next team that comes after us doesn't have to worry about, you know, leaking bushings in their substations or old transformers that are on their last leg. They can take this utility to the next level, whatever that may be, and withstand any crazy um storms in the industry or with power rates or with Bonneville Dam because we've taken care of the backbone, the foundation of it.
SPEAKER_01So something, and this is where the mic drop moment is coming up. All this work for replacing these systems that clearly have reached the end of their lives, that's going to require a lot of money. So what do you guys do? You guys go out and secure some grant funding. Something that really stood out to me when I was doing my research for this episode is that PUD1 has secured around, and please correct me if it's if it's different, 32 million in grant funding for infrastructure.
unknownYeah.
SPEAKER_01Blowing my mind. So for a small rural utility, um that's that's substantial. How have you been so successful in bringing in outside funding into Mason County? And what does that mean for your customers?
SPEAKER_02Obviously, the rates aren't gonna fall on their backs, but so we're about a $15 million a year business just for standard everyday. So we're small, especially in the um utility industry. We're very small. And so we have brought in, I think when I went to the Hood Sport meeting the other night, we were at just over $46 million in funding total. About $8 million of that is low interest loans. So like I think the highest percentage rate is 1.75%, some of it's half a percent. And then over $38 million of that is grant funding, like free and clear funding. And we have close to $20 million in the queue that like that's being reviewed for future grants. And then after our strategic planning meeting, I would say we have another 20 or so million of applications that we plan to put in. And so there's a couple of reasons why we're successful in this front. One, again, my team's fantastic. We write all the grants in-house. That's all work that we put together. We package those, we scope them, we we get the letters of support. And then the next part of it is just the relationships. So being able to have these relationships with the funders, whether that's federal agencies, state agencies, our state and federal representatives, our community partners, and we have a good need statement. We have a good story to tell. And we also now, after, you know, seven or eight years, we have a track record. Like people know if we invest in Mason PewDie One, that team's gonna get the work done. They're gonna get it done on time, on budget, they're gonna deliver, we're gonna cut a ribbon. And so I think we've built that reputation for ourselves where people are now excited to partner and invest in us. And yeah, ultimately, you know, there's things that we can't control. The gas prices are going up, your labor goes up, your insurance goes up, you have to replace really expensive trucks that are doubling in price. These are all things that our our rates pay for. But all these other big projects, we're trying to get people to partner, see that we have a good plan and a good process. Invest in us, we'll get the work done, we'll put those dollars to good use.
SPEAKER_01So it's kind of a no-brainer, but I'm assuming that without those grants, more of those infrastructure costs would ultimately fall on the ratepayers. Yep. That's why you guys are working diligently. Are there any projects underway right now that people should be watching?
SPEAKER_02Oh my gosh, Tiana, there's probably 15 projects on the works right now, and that's not an exaggeration. Like I think just the water side alone, when I counted, had eight different water projects that are in various phases from wrapping up construction to we're in the we're start kicking off, you know, we've put them out to bid to getting our water system plans approved through Department of Health. And that's just on the water side. That doesn't include, you know, the substation we just got done building, the one that we've broke, you know, we broke ground on the exit feeders this year, all of the rebuild projects throughout the system. So I can't, I can't just point to one. There's a lot going on.
SPEAKER_01How do people keep up with the work that you do? Like, do you have a newsletter or how can people learn more about the projects that you guys are working on?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, we try to talk a lot in our newsletter about the things that are happening as a quarterly newsletter. So it's either here's the stuff we've accomplished this last quarter, or here's what's upcoming, to kind of alert people if there's construction work happening in their area. We do a pretty comprehensive annual report every spring that's put out that talks about the prior year's financial metrics, construction metrics, that sort of thing. And then some of it we do on social media. I also do roadshows. Like I go out to the different pockets of communities along the canal when I'm invited to and I present at those meetings to kind of show people like here's all the really good work that this team's doing for you, and then kind of get their feedback on what's going on and answer their questions too.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, it's important to talk about the work that you guys are doing. And there's so many different things to talk about for sure. You mentioned that in order for you guys to go after these grant opportunities, that partnerships plays a huge role in that. Um and kind of an interesting question here, but even though PewDie One isn't primarily a broadband provider, you still played a role in helping bring broadband infrastructure to rural Hood Canal communities. I had a note here that you guys had partnered with Hood Canal Communications. Shout out to them, love them to secure some curb funding. Can you kind of talk to me about what that partnership looked like and why PewDie One decided it was important to get involved in broadband?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, it's been something that we've actually resisted for a long time. We were getting a lot of community pressure, especially in Brennan, um, because we serve up into Jefferson County, and they were completely without internet services. And a lot of the pockets along the canal, they don't have cell service. So they can't get, you know, they can't scan Facebook on their phone or whatever they're doing. I know that's right. They don't have direct view of the sky, so they can't do satellite internet. So they're literal dead zones. If they need to use the internet, they have to drive to an area that has it or where they can get cell service. And I physically live in an area that's like that, except I was able to get Starlink where I live, um, which has been a godsend. But we we kept resisting it. We were getting a lot of pressure. There's a very active broadband action team, like a broadband group in Brennan. Hood Canal Communications came to us and they said, we got this NTIA funding, um, we got this giant grant, we're gonna bring broadband up to, I think it was right about Eldon, the Eldon store. And then they also got a separate grant that would pay them to extend the fiber backbone through Brennan and connect downtown Brennan. But there was this gap. There's this gap between Eldon and Jefferson County that was unserved and the funding wouldn't pay for that. And so, you know, we reached out to different service providers, public and private, saying, you know, do you guys have a plan to serve this area? And everybody's like, no, not for at least 10 years. And the folks in Brennan were not having it. And I'm really good friends with some of the people up there. And they're like, come on, PUD When this is the new initiative number one, you know, before initiative number one is what the state initiative that formed public public power. And they're like, This is you need to step in and help us. If you don't help us, we're gonna lose this. Like, nobody else is gonna do this. So we said, fine. And I talked to the commissioners about it, and we held public meetings and we invited um public and private sector partners to join in on those meetings, and we applied for the curb funding and we got it. So, what that did is it it bridged that gap, it extended the broadband from where um Hood Canal's grant stopped and their next grant started. And because of that, now the fiber runs all the way to the base of Mount Walker and Hood. Canal has built out all these little pockets along the canal. Not everybody's connected yet. There's still a lot of work to do. And, you know, we're not looking to expand our role other than just be supporters and share open trenches when those are open. But I do have to say that making that happen is one of the proudest moments of my career. Like it was a big deal to have those people connected with this essential service, especially during it was during COVID times. Right. You know, they needed it to telework for telehealth for all these different things.
SPEAKER_01Or just to be connected to anything other than, yeah, like I mean, I love, I love nature, don't get me wrong, but sometimes I need a human to speak with. And, you know, COVID was a really hard time for a lot of people, especially if you didn't have, you know, access to the interwebs. Um, that's a really good story. Thank you for telling us that. What programs or resources does PUD1 offer that you wish more customers knew about?
SPEAKER_02So we just got a pretty big grant through Department of Commerce to it's um their Here program. And we set up this energy equity rebate program. So what it does is it connects folks who are moderate or low income with um funding to install ductless or ducted heating and cooling units in their homes. And so this program is pretty unique. We've had similar grants to this, but it's been on a rebate basis. And what this does is let's say you're a moderate income person or a low-income person, you don't have to prepay for the service and then get reimbursed by the PUD. You can actually utilize this network of contractors who are pre-approved, and the contractors send the invoice through and they wait for us to pay it. And so you can get air conditioning in these crazy warm summers that we're experiencing now. You can get really efficient heating and get rid of your baseboard heaters or your wood stove. And so that's a program. I think we fully subscribed like in three weeks before we even sign the contract on it. But we have additional funding coming. So we're asking people to sign up, get pre-approved, and then that also will demonstrate a need in the next round of funding. We can say we have, you know, 25 more people that we weren't able to serve, that we we need the funding to get them connected.
SPEAKER_01I heard of a program that you guys do that's similar to PUD3's project share. It's called the Canal Comfort Fund. What is that? And how can customers either receive assistance or help support their neighbors?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, so that's a completely rate pair-funded low-income assistance program. It assists on power and water. And so we've had it, I don't know how many years, like decades, long before I ever got to the PUD. And we we manage it in-house. And so on our websites, or if you call customer service, they can tell you what the threshold is for eligibility. And then we have some space carved out because what we found, especially during COVID, is there's a lot of people, a lot of families that don't meet the low-income threshold, but they still have things that throw them off kilter on their budgeting. So maybe their car broke down or they lost their job or they had a severe illness that made them not able to work and they had to go on FMLA. So we have money set aside for people that have just like one-off hardships to help them keep their water and power bills current. And we have had some really generous donors. Recently, we've got a new donor that she's putting thousands of dollars in that program every year.
SPEAKER_03Ooh, yeah.
SPEAKER_02It's great. We've been able to help a lot of families, and that's in addition to the other things like LIHEAP, LIWAP when the water one was available. There's tribal assistance programs, but this one's specific to PUD1 customers by PUD1 customers.
SPEAKER_01Such an amazing thing. Let's bring it back to Public Power Week. You've spent much of your career in public service and now lead Washington's very first PUD One. What makes you proud to work in public power and to serve the rural communities that you do?
SPEAKER_02Being able to provide an essential service that everybody depends on is rewarding in itself. But the public sector just has a real camaraderie and synergy to it, which is fantastic. A lot of my really good friends, like in my circle, are my colleagues at other public power agencies. Sheila Corson's one of them. She's fantastic. And I've known her for years since she first came to public power at Okanagan. And so I think Public Power Week's a really good time for us just to celebrate what we've done, how we're helping, especially rural communities. A lot of public power is rural. And then just to build upon that and say this is what's, you know, coming up in the future for the next generation of public power leaders and public sector leaders and working together to set all of them up to be successful.
SPEAKER_01And before I let you go, Kristen, is there anything happening at PewDie One right now that we didn't get a chance to talk about that you want our listeners to know?
SPEAKER_02Anything to plug? They just missed our fantastic customer appreciation events, but we will have to have such a fun time.
SPEAKER_01Oh, you just spoil all of us. I love coming to get a cheeseburger. We put it on our calendar and make it a whole field trip for the entire office. We love doing that. Thank you for doing that every year. What what started that?
SPEAKER_02They started it before I got there. It was like their 75th anniversary, and they just decided to do like a barbecue in the shop and say thank you. And they had a good turnout. And then when I when I came in, um I inherited that. And so it used to be like 200, 250 people would come through through the day and sit in the shop and have lunch and hang out. Well, then COVID happened and it was our 90th anniversary.
SPEAKER_01Oh, yeah.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. And we're like, we can't cancel it. Like we have to do it. And so so many different businesses were moving to a drive-thru model, a contactless model. Right. So I'm like, let's just do that here. Let's figure out a way to do it. So we did, and we and we set up these stations where people could just drive through and get things, and everybody was masked and gloved. Well, nobody had been out of the house in months. And so we had over 500 people show up and we were planning for 250. It was nuts. And the numbers have just grown since then. This year, um, I think because it was very stormy out, it was a lower attendance than we normally have. But most years we are backing traffic up into the highway, like all the way down the hill, because the people just keep coming for four straight hours. They show up before we're even ready to start. But it's just a really they gotta be first. Yeah. They they don't want us to run out. So they, you know, they they come and get their goodie bags, they get their lunch, they get their Olympic mountain ice cream, they get to say hi to our crews. Our crews are serving them their lunch. Yeah. You know, it's just it's a really good way to connect and say thank you. But what it really honestly is, Tiana, is a way for those folks to see our employees face to face and say thank you to them.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, putting putting a face to the name for sure. Well, we do have a little bit of time. I want to ask you one question that's kind of fun. What is something that you're currently nerding out on besides public power? Oh my gosh. That's a really hard question. Or I can give you an easier one.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, let's do that.
SPEAKER_01What's your favorite way to spend a day off in Mason County?
SPEAKER_02That's also not an easy question.
SPEAKER_01I know, right?
SPEAKER_02I'm usually like hanging out with my kids, doing something kid related. I don't take a lot of time off. I work a lot, and not because I have to, but because I love it and it's great. I'm gonna go back to the nerd question. So I'm an English major. That's my background. The people that are very close to me know how big of a closeted nerd I am on history and English and documentaries and all that sort of thing. So I am rereading all of Edith Wharton's collection because I read it when I was in college, but I found as I'm getting older, I'm forgetting things. So I'm kind of going back through and rereading all of those things. And I have one of my children just loves books. She loves reading, she's really into it. So it's been really fun to buy the box sets of the books that I read growing up and sharing those with her. She's just devouring in like boxcar children and Anna Brain Gables and um all of the little house stuff and the Nancy Drew. So I mean, there's my nerd, my nerd stuff, and it's spending time with my kids and getting to experience them as they're growing up is probably the best way I spend my time off.
SPEAKER_01That's beautiful. Well, thank you again for joining us today on the podcast, Kristen, and for helping us continue our celebration of Public Power Week. Thank you for sharing a little bit more about the important role that public utilities play in supporting our rural communities, local businesses, and the overall economic vitality of Mason County. If you'd like to learn more about Mason PUD1, the programs and resources they offer, or just learn more about your electric and water services, be sure to check them out online at MasonPUD1.org. And as always, if you'd like to learn more about the work we do here at the Economic Development Council, uh go ahead and visit us at Masonedc.org. Thank you everybody again today for listening to this episode of the Economic Current. If you enjoyed today's conversation, subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. Leave us a review, and we'll see you next time. Take care.