Public Power

Pacific County PUD is a not-for-profit, community-owned utility, governed by three commissioners you elect. Here’s what that means for you, and how we’re celebrating Public Power Week, October 4–10, 2026..

What is public power?

Public power utilities are owned by the communities they serve. There are no shareholders and no profits leaving town. Decisions about rates, service, and investment are made locally, in public meetings, by people who live here.
Nearly 2,000 communities across the United States get their electricity this way. Washington has 28 public utility districts, or PUDs, and Pacific County PUD is one of them, serving about [18,000] homes and businesses across the county.
Like your public schools and library, your PUD belongs to the community. It’s run as a unit of local government, not as a business earning profits for investors.

What is a PUD?

Washington voters created public utility districts in 1930 so communities could own and run their own utilities. Each PUD is governed by locally elected commissioners. Pacific County PUD’s three commissioners serve six-year terms, adopt the budget, set rates, and oversee the utility, all in meetings open to the public.

What ownership means for you

• $0 to shareholders. Every dollar goes back into poles, wires, and the crews who keep your lights on.
• A say in how it’s run. You elect our commissioners. Board meetings are the first Tuesday of the month in Raymond and the third Tuesday in Long Beach, and anyone can attend.
• Clean power from the Columbia River. We buy our electricity from the Bonneville Power Administration. Most of it is hydropower: carbon-free and generated here in the Northwest.
• Local people, local decisions. Our crews, customer service staff, and leadership live and work in Pacific County.

What is Public Power Week?

Every October, community-owned utilities across the country celebrate Public Power Week. This year’s national theme is “Your Community. Your Utility. Your Power.” It’s our chance to say thank you, open our doors, and help our customer-owners get to know their utility a little better.

How we’re celebrating

Monday, Oct. 5: Meet your commissioners. All three of your elected commissioners will be in our lobbies, with coffee and pastries. Ask about rates, projects, your bill, or anything else on your mind.

• Raymond office, 405 Duryea St.: 8:30–11:30 a.m.
• Long Beach office, 9610 Sandridge Rd.: 1:30–4:30 p.m.

Monday–Thursday, Oct. 5–8: Warm Heart Donation Wall. Add your heart to the wall at either office. Raymond and Long Beach are competing all week. Details below.

Tuesday, Oct. 6: Board of Commissioners meeting in Raymond. Open to everyone. Raymond auditorium.

Friday, Oct. 9: Warm Heart results. We’ll announce the week’s total and the winning office on our Facebook page.

All week: Youth coloring and art contests. Entries are due Thursday, Oct. 15. Details and downloads below.

Add your heart to the Warm Heart Wall

Warm Heart is neighbors helping neighbors. The fund is paid for entirely by customer donations, not the PUD, and helps income-eligible Pacific County households who are struggling to pay their electric bill. Since 2018, customer gifts have provided more than $245,000 in assistance to over 1,100 local homes.

During Public Power Week, every gift gets a paper heart on the Warm Heart Wall at the office you choose: red for one-time gifts, gold for monthly gifts. Your heart can show your full name, first name, family or business name, or simply “A Neighbor.”

It’s a friendly competition, too. Raymond vs. Long Beach: which office will raise the most one-time dollars, and which will sign up the most monthly givers? Every monthly sign-up counts the same, whether it’s $5 or $50. Winners are announced Friday, Oct. 9.

Ways to give

• In person at the Raymond or Long Beach office, Monday–Thursday, Oct. 5–8
• By phone: Raymond office (360) 942-2411 · Long Beach office (360) 642-3191
• By email: custserv@pacificpud.org
• Monthly: add a recurring gift of any amount to your PUD bill. A few dollars a month helps a neighbor all year.

Gifts made by phone or email get a heart too, on the wall at the office you pick.

Need help paying your bill? Eligible customers can receive up to $300 once every 12 months through Warm Heart, administered by Crisis Support Network. See who qualifies and apply.

Calling all young artists!

Kids and teens in Pacific County can enter our Public Power Week contests. There are three categories, and you pick the winners.

Teens can enter both the pylon coloring contest and the art contest.

How to enter

1. Download a sheet below, or pick one up at your school or either PUD office.
2. Color it with crayons, markers, colored pencils, or paint. For the art contest, use any medium (pencil, paint, marker, collage), up to 11×17 inches. Work must be original and hand-made.
3. Fill out the entry form on the back, and have a parent or guardian sign it. We can’t post entries without a signature.
4. Turn it in by Thursday, Oct. 15, at your school or at our Raymond or Long Beach office. Art contest entrants may instead email a clear photo of their piece, with the entry form, to ThomasS@pacificpud.org.

One entry per person per contest.

You pick the winners. On Monday, Oct. 19, we’ll post every entry in an album on our Facebook page, labeled with the artist’s first name, last initial, and age. Like your favorites. The entry with the most likes in each category by 11:59 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 25 wins a spotlight page on our website. Winners will be announced Monday, Oct. 26.

This contest is not sponsored, endorsed, or administered by, or associated with, Facebook.

Download coloring sheets and entry forms

Print on letter-size paper. Each coloring sheet includes the entry form on page 2; print double-sided or staple the pages together.