Power for Progress: Powerful Lessons
A GRDA transmission line and right-of-way runs across the Oklahoma landscape, east of Pryor. GRDA maintains approximately 1,200 miles of these lines to deliver reliable, abundant electricity to its customers across Oklahoma and into a four-state region.
Most schools across Oklahoma are now back in session for the fall semester. With students and teachers in the classroom again, focused on reading, writing, arithmetic, and other subjects, it seems like a good time for the Grand River Dam Authority to share a few lessons of its own. As you read through them, GRDA hopes you will see how the many facets of its mission add up to great benefits for the state of Oklahoma.
· 1,200: The approximate miles of high voltage electric transmission lines owned and operated by GRDA. These lines deliver abundant, reliable electricity to customers across Oklahoma and into a four-state region.
· 82: The number of years GRDA has been producing clean, renewable hydroelectricity. Pensacola Dam (Oklahoma’s first hydroelectric facility) was completed in 1940 and has been harnessing the waters of the Grand River to make electricity ever since.
· 70,000: The approximate amount of surface acres of lake waters under GRDA control. In fact, GRDA is second only to the Oklahoma Water Resources Board (OWRB) in jurisdiction over state waters. Grand Lake, Lake Hudson, and the W.R. Holway Reservoir
· 25.5: The percentage of GRDA’s diverse electric generation portfolio that is considered renewable. It includes hydroelectricity at Pensacola and Kerr dams, as well as the wind generation GRDA utilizes through purchased power agreements.
· 35-plus million: The approximate dollar amount that GRDA’s municipal customer (public power) communities combine to return to city coffers annually. Those are tax-free dollars generated by the municipally owned utilities’ power sales, that can then be used to help fund other city services.
· 11 million: The approximate dollar amount GRDA spends in a single year on government services, related to its lakes (lake patrols, water monitoring, ecological operations, economic development, etc.). And it is all done at no cost to Oklahoma taxpayers.
· Finally, 5: That stands for the “5 Es of Excellence” GRDA mission. That mission focuses on employees, electricity, economic development, environmental stewardship, and efficiency.
GRDA is Oklahoma’s largest public power electric utility; fully funded by revenues from electric and water sales instead of taxes.