Meet the Candidates: Northern Wasco County People's Utility District Directors
The Dalles, Ore., Oct. 9, 2024 — Northern Wasco County People’s Utility District has three positions open for the Nov. 5 general election.
None of the races are contested as incumbents are seeking to retain their seats in Subdivisions 1 through 3.
Northern Wasco County PUD’s Board of Directors is elected by you, the customer-owners of the utility. Each board director serves a four-year term and represents a specific geographic area.
Why You Should Care:
Their influence can be crucial in the development of our communities by ensuring power rates remain low while also ensuring money is being invested in infrastructure that maintains a steady and sufficient supply of power as the power industry changes.
Northern Wasco County People’s Utility District Map with subdivision districts. Roger Howe is runnning for subdivision 1. Greg Johnson is running for subdivision 2 and Wayne Jacobson is running for subdivision 3. Click the image to enlarge it. Also like to it here.
Roger Howe
Roger Howe / Subdivision 1
1. Tell us about yourself. (Who are you? Where are you from? Any experience that led you to this path of serving the public?
As a lifelong resident of The Dalles, my commitment to this community runs deep. After graduating from The Dalles High School in 1966 and earning my degree from Eastern Oregon University, I served in the 101st Airborne Division during the Vietnam War. Upon returning home, I built a career as an insurance agent with Kargl, Elwood, and Geiger, Inc., while also spending 5 years as a volunteer Emergency Medical Technician for Mid-Columbia Fire and Rescue and have dedicated 19 years as a volunteer with the Wasco County Search and Rescue. Throughout my life, public service has guided my decisions – making my role on the PUD Board of Directors a natural extension of this lifelong commitment to our community.
2. What experience, knowledge, skills, disposition and unique strengths do you bring to the position? Can you give us an example or two of some fundamental lessons you've learned while on the job or while serving as a director?
My 44-year career as an insurance agent was built on two principles: dedication to excellence and unwavering transparency. I've brought these same values to my role on the PUD Board of Directors. As the first NWCPUD Board Member to achieve Director Gold Certification – the highest of three levels – I demonstrate my ongoing commitment to expanding my knowledge and serving our customer-owners with distinction. As a member of the PUD Board of Directors, I champion transparency and ethical governance. I encourage everyone to explore our website, understand our governance framework, and review our guiding policies. I welcome questions and participation – because an informed community is a stronger community.
3. What are the three most pressing issues facing the PUD and how do you plan to address them within your role?
1. Keeping our rates low – Through careful financial management, we've successfully maintained some of the lowest utility rates in Oregon for our customer-owners. Our strategic planning ensures that large industrial customers don't impact residential rates—we've created a robust financial structure that keeps household bills affordable while accommodating industrial growth.
2. Infrastructure Improvements and Reliability – At your PUD, we believe in proactive maintenance rather than reactive repairs. By strategically investing in infrastructure improvements today, we enhance the reliability of our system for years to come.
3. Continuously improving PUD services – As our community grows, your PUD is evolving to meet changing needs. A prime example is our upcoming partnership with QLife, which represents an exciting step toward bringing affordable, broadband internet access to all of Wasco County. This expansion into broadband services demonstrates our commitment to not just keeping pace with our growing community, but helping to drive its progress forward.
4. Tell us your thoughts on Google establishing five data centers in The Dalles and what effect that has on the PUD.
As a PUD Board Director, I see the establishment of Google's data centers in The Dalles as an opportunity for both our community and our utility.
Data centers create jobs and attract new residents to our community. When people move here, they become part of our local economy – buying or renting homes, shopping at our stores, and becoming part of our community fabric.
For the PUD specifically, large customers like data centers can contribute substantially to our revenue stream. Increased revenue stream would enable us to improve our infrastructure, enhancing system reliability for everyone. When we grow, we can expand what we're able to offer all our customer-owners, from residential users to small businesses.
Greg Johnson
Greg Johnson / Subdivision 2
1. Tell us about yourself. (Who are you? Where are you from? Any experience that led you to this path of serving the public?
I was born in Portland, grew up in Seattle and have lived in The Dalles since 1985, returning to a place my family has called home for 160+ years. My wife and I bought my grandparents’ farm in 1989. We farmed until 2015, when I decided to return to school. Since earning my Masters in Elementary Education in 2019, I’ve been teaching middle school science at St. Mary’s Academy. Throughout that time, I served on various local boards and committees, which helped lead me toward being a PUD Board Member.
2. What experience, knowledge, skills, disposition and unique strengths do you bring to the position? Can you give us an example or two of some fundamental lessons you've learned while on the job or while serving as a director?
I believe in being direct and not cutting corners. As a middle school science teacher, being direct and straightforward is the only way to communicate with my students. This is the same way I approach being a PUD Board Member – our customer-owners deserve to know exactly what is happening at their PUD and this is how I’ve led the Board in my role as President over the past year. Being a farmer and now a teacher, I’ve learned over and over that you must do things right and you have to do them right from the get-go. If you cut corners and try to just get by from the start, it’ll come back to bite you in the end. I view my role as a member of the PUD Board in the same way, we’re going to do the right thing for our customer-owners from the start because it is what they deserve and what it right for the PUD.
3. What are the three most pressing issues facing the PUD and how do you plan to address them within your role?
1. Protecting our power supply – Right now there are many agencies working to weaken or take out the dams that provide most of our power. The hydrosystem is the lowest cost, carbon free power around which helps keep our rates low.
2. Keeping Our Rates Low – We have worked hard to make smart decisions when it comes to purchasing for our power needs. The PUD staff is top-notch and always keep their eyes on the horizon to make sure we’re ahead of potential issues, this planning helps keep our rates low for our customer-owners.
3. Growing for and with our community – The Dalles is growing and we need to grow with it. We’re working to make sure that the services we provide will be for the betterment of all in our community.
As for addressing these issues, the Board of Directors work with the staff and management to set Policy which gives direction to the organization. As a Director I will continue to help set policy which will keep the NWCPUD moving in the appropriate direction.
4. Tell us your thoughts on Google establishing five data centers in The Dalles and what effect that has on the PUD.
Data centers coming to The Dalles have greatly increased our revenue stream. An increased revenue stream means we have more funds available for improving our system. An improved system means better reliability and fewer outages for our customer-owners. We’ve designed our rate structure to make sure that our residential customers will not have their rates impacted by large industrial customers. Also, the increased revenues to the PUD also cause greatly increased fees we pay to the City of The Dalles for their general fund
Wayne Jacobson / Subdivision 3
1. Tell us about yourself. (Who are you? Where are you from? Any experience that led you to this path of serving the public?
Although I grew up and went to college in Wisconsin, I have been an Oregonian since 1976 and lived in The Dalles since 1983 when I moved here to open Hear's the Answer Hearing Center. With degrees in Business Administration and Economics as well as 34 years as a business owner, I felt I could bring some valid experience to the PUD Board.
2. What experience, knowledge, skills, disposition and unique strengths do you bring to the position? Can you give us an example or two of some fundamental lessons you've learned while on the job or while serving as a director?
Since joining the PUD in 2019 I have attained the Gold Director designation from the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association. It took over 100 hours of advanced training and I was only the second Gold Director in the history of the PUD. I have learned how to be a valuable contributing Director and realized that a Director gives guidance and direction to the General Manager; it is the GM who actually leads the employees and gets things done.
3. What are the three most pressing issues facing the PUD and how do you plan to address them within your role?3) The three most pressing things our PUD faces in my mind are:
1: Having an adequate supply of power to serve out consumer/owners. The Bonneville hydro system allows us to offer power at extremely low rates. The misinformed attempt to remove dams in the system is a danger to our power supply.
2: Transmission of power is desperately needed but is very difficult to build. The Boardman to Hemmingway transmission line has been in the works for 18 years and not a single shovel of dirt has been turned over yet.
3: The third issue is Oregon's outdated and misunderstood ban on nuclear-generated power. The Small Modular Reactors available today are far from the old-style Trojan or Three Mile Island reactors from years ago. The military has been using nuclear power in ships and subs for years. If the Small Modular Reactors are used, a lot of the transmission issues disappear since the reactors could be placed right next to the end user. Unfortunately, wind and solar will not solve our problems. The wind does not always blow and the sun does not always shine. It is too inconsistent to be dependable.
4. Tell us your thoughts on Google establishing five data centers in The Dalles and what effect that has on the PUD.
Google's data centers are a big benefit to our customer/owners since greater volume for the PUD allows us to do more to improve our system and ultimately improve service to our customer/owners. Google does not get a break on the power, they pay the same as everyone else. We will not have our customer/owners subsidizing a large user like Google.
