Northern Wasco County PUD welcomes new manager to staff

Jeff Teel has been hired as the new Chief Operating Officer at Northern Wasco County PUD, working under PUD General Manager Roger Kline. Teel, a professional engineer, with a background that also includes Naval Service and time working for the Eugene Water and Electric Board. He also enjoys motorcycle touring and can’t wait to hit the hills and canyons of our area on his Yamaha FJR 1300.

Photo Courtesy OS Engineering

Jeff Teel was just getting his email set up this morning when CCCNews gave him a ring at his new office on River Road in The Dalles.

Teel, 48, currently of Eugene, will function as the new Chief Operating Officer at Northern Wasco County PUD.

“My strongest expertise is in technology,” Teel said. “My focus right now is to get to know the people here and understand what their needs are.”

Teel’s title also includes Director of Engineering, Operations & Technology.

In his first several months, Teel said he will be wrapping his mind around upcoming projects and getting a working knowledge of the budget.

The PUD and Teel face large challenges as the customer-owned utility continues to provide local residents with inexpensive electricity in an ever-changing environment of power policy.

In 2018, PUD General Manager Roger Kline said the PUD served “just over 10,200 meters with a new system peak just experienced earlier this August (2018) of 121 MW. That isn’t huge by any means, but for a historically winter-peaking utility, this is a change. Our largest build-outs are in the data-technology space, with expected loads in the next five-year planning horizon greater than 500 MW.”

Our annual budget is just over $42 million in 2018 and our current asset value is just under $100 million. I should note we do have a 10-year capital investment plan of just over $37 million and have completed our first new substation build in well over 20 years, with another starting next year,” Kline said.

The PUD’s power generation portfolio is comprised of the following sources: 

• Hydroelectric – 90.7% (baseload) 

• Wind, solar, biomass & natural gas 1.2% (intermittent) 

• Nuclear 6.1% (baseload) 

• Market Purchases 2.1 % (as needed)

The public utility owns hydro-electric turbines at McNary and The Dalles dams.

Teel said he was excited to be moving east.  

He enjoys touring on his Yamaha FJR 1300 motorcycle and looked forward to the vistas and gorgeous highways the Gorge and Central Oregon have to offer. “I like the power and the sound,” he said of the bike. “I ride responsibly.”

He also enjoys the outdoors. 

“We want to get out of the Willamette Valley and get more sunshine and less rain and fewer people.”

Teel is married to his wife Lisa and has two grown children. He said he and his wife will be working toward selling their home in Eugene and making a permanent move to The Dalles in months to come.

Teel comes to us from OS Engineering where he served as Control Systems Engineer & Manager, in Springfield, Oregon. 

The company website touts itself as, “Leading the industry in best-value power distribution system design, analysis, testing and commissioning, our team can support the electrical and controls engineering needs of power generation customers from small owner/operator power plants to the largest power providers.”

Teel has had a very successful career in public power, consulting engineering as well as the industrial technology sector,” said Lili Garcia in a PUD press release. “He also served in the United States Navy and is a graduate of their Nuclear Power Program.  Please join me in welcoming Jeff to our wonderful community.”

Here is the rest of his employment history.

Staff Electrical Engineer
Eugene Water & Electric Board
2006-2013

 Facilities Controls Engineer
SK Hynix
2003-2006

 Field Engineer
General Electric
1998-2003

 Electrician's Mate
United States Navy
1992-1998

Within its strategic plan, the PUD will consider the potential impacts of climate change and the need for resilient infrastructure investments; while considering the various outlooks of its customer-owners regarding this issue.

The utility is also guarding against big rate swings in power costs via the federally owned Bonneville Power Administration, where most of its power is purchased. 

NWCPUD is an active participant in trade associations, such as the American Public Power Association (APPA) www.publicpower.org , the Public Power Council (PPC) www.ppcpdx.org , the Northwest Public Power Association (NWPPA) www.nwppa.org, and the Oregon People’s Utility District Association (OPUDA) www.opuda.org. These associations offer a means to participate in legislative and regulatory proceedings.

To read the PUD’s full strategic plan for the current 10-year-period click here.