This story was updated to clarify information about EWEB's power generation costs.
The Eugene Water & Electric Board will continue to buy electricity from the Bonneville Power Administration for nearly two decades.
The utility and the federally-run electricity producer signed an agreement that will provide between $2.5 and $3 billion worth of power.
EWEB will continue to receive a similar amount of electricity from BPA as it has in recent years, according to EWEB spokesperson Aaron Orlowski.
"The power that Bonneville provides is reliable. It comes from these hydro-electric systems that generate electricity very reliably,” said Orlowski. “It’s affordable, it’s low-cost, we actually get that power at cost. There’s not a mark-up of any kind from BPA. And it’s carbon-free."
Bonneville’s portfolio includes 31 dams along the Columbia River and its tributaries, as well as a nuclear power plant in eastern Washington.
Orlowski said Bonneville's hydroelectric dams can generate power at rates cheaper than EWEB's smaller facilities such as the recently decommissioned Leaburg Hydropower Project, though it maintains plants of its own so it can increase production when demand is high.
BPA-generated electricity was cited in EWEB'S 2023 decision to decommission Leaburg. At that time, the utility said BPA electricity was less than one-third of the cost of hydroelectric power generated by EWEB.
