snohomish county public utility district type municipal utility industry public utility founded 1949 headquarters everett washington usa key people commissioners dave aldrich toni olson kathy vaughn general manager steven klein products electric utility drinking water revenue 586 million 2012 number of employees 1 025 2012 website www.snopud.com snohomish county public utility district is a public utility providing power to 325 000 customers in snohomish county and on camano island washington . it provides water service to over 20 000 customers in the northeast section of the snohomish county . the utility is the second largest public utility in the pacific northwest and the 12th largest in the united states . it is the largest of 28 puds in the state of washington . the pud is the largest utility customer of the bonneville power administration a major wholesale marketer of energy in the western united states . the utility is one of the leaders in tidal 1 2 and geothermal 3 4 energy research in the pacific northwest both of which are clean reliable and plentiful in the region . the utility has received 12 million in federal funding towards its pilot tidal project . 5 other energy comes from renewable hydroelectric sources co generation projects fueled by biogas and biomass and wind energy projects . the utility started offering incentives loans and other resources for small scale solar installations in spring 2009 . 6 snohomish county pud has developed and led regional conservation programs for more than 25 years . the cumulative savings equal more than 100 average megawatts enough to serve about 75 000 homes . the utility has weatherized more than 60 000 homes recycled more than 33 000 older energy wasting refrigerators and freezers and sold more than 3.8 million compact fluorescent lights at discounted prices through a retail network . in recent years the utility has beaten its record for conservation . 7 contents 1 history 2 pud electricity supply 3 references 4 bibliography 5 external links history edit the snohomish county public utility district is a municipal corporation of the state of washington formed by a majority vote of the people on november 3 1936 . it started as a water utility on january 17 1946 . the pud began operating as an electric utility on september 1 1949 . in 2005 the pud uncovered audio tapes revealing that enron energy traders were intentionally manipulating the market during the western u.s. energy crisis by encouraging suppliers to shut down plants to perform unnecessary maintenance . 8 pud electricity supply edit 81 % bonneville power administration 8 % pud owned hydroelectric projects 7 % wind energy purchases 4 % landfill gas biomass and other market purchases bonneville power administration provides the bulk of the pud s energy . bpa markets wholesale electricity from 31 federal hydroelectric projects in the columbia river basin one non federal nuclear plant and several other small non federal plants . bpa headquartered in portland oregon is a federal agency under the u.s. department of energy . the pud purchases wind energy from the white creek wind project in south central washington and the wheat field wind project 9 and the hay canyon wind project both located in north central oregon along the columbia river gorge . the utility receives about 60 average megawatts from these facilities . the henry m. jackson hydroelectric project which began operating in 1984 is located in the sultan river basin . the hydroelectric generating facility produces about 48 average megawatts or about 4 percent of the pud s power needs . in addition to generating enough power for 35 800 homes using a clean renewable resource the project also provides recreation enhances fish and wildlife habitats provides an element of flood control and assures an abundance of clean drinking water . the utility has developed several additional small low impact hydroelectric facilities for energy generation in its service area . 10 11 12 the pud also receives energy from another biomass project at the hampton lumber mill in darrington washington . in addition the pud purchases energy from the klickitat pud landfill gas project 13 in eastern washington . it supplies the pud with about 2 average megawatts of electricity enough to power about 1 500 homes . the project captures methane from decomposing garbage to generate electricity . the pud has sold a portion of the environmental attributes from its renewable energy projects to fund the utility s r & d of other renewable energy sources . references edit feds receive puget sound tidal power application seattle post intelligencer jan. 20 2010 puget sound area leads the charge to tidal energy seattle post intelligencer aug. 16 2007 snohomish county pud to probe for sources of geothermal energy everett daily herald aug. 16 2010 interest in nw geothermal potential heats up puget sound business journal oct. 29 2010 feds award pud 10 million for tidal power snohomish county business journal sep. 10 2010 solar power projects heating up in northwest q13 fox news may 26 2010 snohomish county pud sets energy record king 5 news mar. 19 2010 tapes show enron caused rolling blackouts in california new york times feb. 4 2005 horizon wind signs ppa with snohomish pud renewable energy world aug. 29 2008 new hydroelectric dam to be first in county since 80s everett daily herald may 24 2010 dam coming to youngs creek this summer monroe monitor jun. 15 2010 pud on the cutting edge of new electricity komo 4 news dec. 30 2010 klickitat pud http www.klickpud.com power lfg.asp bibliography edit 1 bethany reid ph.d. and thomas m. gaskin ph.d. everett & snohomish county a community of new ideas isbn 0 9717192 2 5 external links edit snohomish county pud homepage alliance to save energy pud hoovers website retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title snohomish county public utility district & oldid 731010716 categories public utility districts of 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