Looking back on GRDA’s 2019: Part 1
Before 2019 comes to a close, we wanted to take a look back at the Grand River Dam Authority’s year of events, issues and activities. What follows is the first in a series that will carry us through December…
January:
Despite cold and muddy conditions along much of the right-of-way, some GRDA powerline maintenance crews spent much of January working on a steel pole replacement project along GRDA’s Feeder 101, which runs from the Tulsa North Substation to the 345 kilovolt interconnection, at Cleveland, Oklahoma. As an example of the greater efficiencies GRDA is always seeking, the project was completed in-house, at a great cost-savings to GRDA ratepayers.
February:
GRDA’s Shoreline Clean-up Crew joined forces with a Delaware County inmate work crew to pick up 1,100 pounds of trash near Flint Creek in February. GRDA Superintendent of Shoreline Enforcement Scott Horton helped to spearhead the effort after seeing a television news story about heavily littered areas. For GRDA, it represented another way to help care for the natural resources in the Illinois River watershed.
Those natural resources were highlighted in the documentary – Our Borrowed Waters – which premiered for audiences across the region in late February and into March. At special events held at Northeastern State University (Tahlequah), the University of Arkansas (Fayetteville) and at the GRDA Ecosystems and Education Center in Langley, GRDA showed the 25-minute documentary that focuses on caring for the resources of the Grand River and Illinois River watersheds.
March:
Early in the month, GRDA learned that – for the 18th consecutive year – it was receiving a Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting from the Government Finance Officer Association of the United States and Canada (GFOA) for its 2017 comprehensive annual financial report (CAFR). That 2017 CAFR can be found on grda.com.
Late in the month, the annual “Big Meat Run” event returned to the spillway area below Pensacola Dam, bringing thousands of visitors and a large economic boost to the South Grand Lake area. Each year, the GRDA Police Department helps to facilitate the event by providing patrols and responding to accidents to help ensure a safe outing for both participants and spectators.
Next week, we’ll look back at the second quarter of 2019…
Headquartered in Vinita, GRDA is Oklahoma’s state-owned electric utility; fully funded by revenues from electric and water sales instead of taxes. Each day, GRDA strives to be an “Oklahoma agency of excellence” by focusing on the 5 E’s: electricity, economic development, environmental stewardship, employees and efficiency.
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