"...providing the best possible electric service, at the lowest possible price." In  1943, the world was at war, television had yet to become a household word, and residents of the central Oregon coast were about to get their own power company. It was May 5, 1943, when Central Lincoln PUD officially began independent electrical operations. 1943 is the official year of inception, but it was actually in 1940 that the PUD began – when the residents of central Lincoln County voted for dependable, affordable, publicly owned electricity. The decision was made to form a people's utility district, and during the next three years, that organization took shape. Directors were elected, funds were provided by a small levy (the only one in the history of the District), and through the sale of revenue bonds, the entire coastal facilities of West Coast Power were purchased. Eventually, the legal boundaries of the District were enlarged to include all the territory now being served, and the PUD – which once had just over 5,000 customers – now serves over 38,000.

Central Lincoln People's Utility District Original Board of Directors, Selling Bonds [click image for larger view]

Providing electricity to everyone was – and still is – the primary concern of the District. But in those early years, the District faced some serious problems. Power was being generated as a by-product of the area's lumber operations. The lumber companies burned hog fuel to generate their own electric power and the surplus was sold to the existing electric company.

For years, these mills served as the sole source of electric power for West Coast Power. However, when the PUD purchased the West Coast facilities, there were only two main sources of energy being used – the C.D. Johnson Mill at Toledo and the Mountain States Steam Plant in North Bend. As long as the supply of hog fuel was plentiful and the needs of the mills did not exceed the capacity of the generators, things went well. But sometimes things didn't go well, and sometimes the lights went out. Sometimes they were out for days at a time – a situation that clearly needed to be remedied.

The District directors began negotiating with the Bonneville Power Administration, the federal power marketing agency, for power generated by the new dams being constructed on the Columbia River and its tributaries. The breakthrough came in October, 1946, when a Bonneville line was built to Toledo and a substation was installed to supply the District's lines. This was followed by the Mapleton substation in December of 1949, and by the Reedsport substation in the fall of 1950.

Points of delivery were not the only problem faced by the District. At the time of purchase from West Coast Power, the distribution facilities were badly run down and in need of repair, rights-of-way were not maintained, and many people in remote areas of the District were not even connected to the system. It was expensive to bring electricity to many farms and rural homes, and because the revenues from them were so low, the profit-oriented private utilities simply had not extended service lines to them. The PUD launched a massive upgrading and line extension program to make service available to all as quickly as possible.

Over the years, other elections were held to include more areas into our District. By 1960, all the communities in our territory had chosen us to supply their power, and the boundaries were pretty much as they are today. We've worked over half a century to strengthen our system, and the District now maintains a dependability rate of over 99.9 percent, while our rates have remained among the lowest in the nation.

We're proud of having served the Oregon coast since 1943, and we're looking forward to serving you well into the future!

For more information about Central Lincoln PUD, contact your local office.