Power for Progress…A weekly column from the Grand River Dam AuthorityPowering Oklahoma for 85 years
85 years ago … Crowds gather to view Oklahoma’s first hydroelectric facility – Pensacola Dam – as it nears completion in 1940. The facility has now been serving Oklahoma for 85 years.
The year 2025 brings another special milestone in the history of the Grand River Dam Authority’s Pensacola Dam. This year, the dam marks 85 years of service to Oklahoma. As the state’s first hydroelectric facility, the dam has been producing renewable electric power for GRDA customers since its 1940 completion.
The dam is located in Northeast Oklahoma, close to other GRDA generation assets, including the Grand River Energy Center, Robert S. Kerr Dam and the Salina Pumped Storage Project. However, the positive impact of the abundant, reliable electric power produced at Pensacola Dam has always been felt across a larger area.
In some areas, that impact is broad and measured by the high quality of life and low cost of living made possible by a direct supply of wholesale GRDA power. Add to that the economic benefits associated with having the nation’s 17th largest public power utility (by generation) and economic development engine as a neighbor or power supplier. In other areas, that impact is most readily seen in GRDA’s ongoing efforts to care for the natural resources under its control, while managing the waters to support a thriving recreational and tourism industry and broad tax base in the region.
Meanwhile, one in ten Oklahoma communities, including the communities served by GRDA are “public power,” meaning they own their own electric distribution systems. GRDA sells wholesale electricity to these communities. In turn, they distribute that power to the end-user homes and businesses all across town. The revenues generated from those electricity sales are used to operate and maintain the distribution system, purchase more power from GRDA and support other city services, like streets and parks, police, and fire protection. All that is done without using tax dollars.
GRDA is proud to be a part of the Oklahoma public power story and proud of the history and service of its Pensacola Dam. It has been a powerful asset, supporting Oklahoma for 85 years!
GRDA is Oklahoma’s largest public power 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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