Teamwork … Two GRDA linemen perform maintenance on one of the many high voltage electric transmission structures GRDA uses to provide low-cost, reliable electricity to 16 Oklahoma “public power” communities.
They came from all over the state this week to meet in Norman, Oklahoma, for the Municipal Electric Systems of Oklahoma (MESO) Public Power Conference.
As the name suggests this is the annual gathering of Oklahoma’s public power team. Representatives from the state’s cities and towns that own their own electric utility system were there to discuss current industry issues, attend training sessions and meet with their Oklahoma peers.
Of course, GRDA was well-represented at the conference too. As the wholesale electric supplier for 16 Oklahoma communities, GRDA is an integral part of Oklahoma’s public power team today, and has been for many years. In fact, the majority of GRDA partnerships with Oklahoma customer communities are over 60 years old and those same customers have signed long-term agreements that will continue the relationship for decades to come.
These partnerships allow customer communities to buy that power their electricity from GRDA at wholesale (not-for-profit) rates and then resell it to their customers at retail rates. The profit made from those sales is then used to help fund important municipal service efforts such as police and fire protection, streets and parks. These are important and necessary revenue dollars made possible at no cost to Oklahoma taxpayers, because of the existence of GRDA and the rest of the Oklahoma Public Power Team.
While GRDA serves 16 communities across the state, you can find public power systems in one of every ten Oklahoma communities, spread across 41 counties. Combined, these systems generate roughly $350 million in revenues from electricity sales each year and a large portion of those revenues stay home, in these Oklahoma hometowns.
At the very beginning of the GRDA mission statement is the pledge “to provide low-cost, reliable electric power and related services to our customers and to be responsive to the interests and concerns of public power users, the communities we affect, and the people of the state of Oklahoma.” Taking part in this annual gathering of the Oklahoma Public Power Team is one way to meet that mission. More importantly, is the 24/7/365 effort of the GRDA workforce to generate and transmit this electricity to our Oklahoma teammates.
Headquartered in Vinita, GRDA is Oklahoma’s state-owned electric utility; fully funded by revenues from electric and water sales instead of taxes. GRDA’s low-cost, reliable power touches 75 of 77 counties in the state. At no cost to Oklahoma taxpayers, GRDA also manages 70,000 surface acres of lakes in the state, including Grand Lake, Lake Hudson and the W.R. Holway Reservoir. Today, GRDA’s 500 employees continue to produce the same “power for progress” that has benefited the state for 75 years.
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