News

GRDA Power For Progress Column Oct 29, 2019

Oct 31, 2019

GRDA Department Spotlight:
GREC E/I&C

In order for the Grand River Dam Authority to maintain its reputation for producing and delivering abundant and reliable electricity across Oklahoma, it takes a team of dedicated and skilled employees and departments working at a variety of tasks all across the Authority. One of those departments is the Grand River Energy Center (GREC) Electric, Instrumentation & Control (E/I&C) Crew.

Every day, this crew brings a combined 124 years of experience to work at the GRDA GREC to support plant operation processes, complete maintenance projects and other tasks that support plant operation processes. Not only does it play a critical role in helping to maintain GRDA’s ultra-efficient Unit 3 combined cycle gas generator (online in 2017), but it also does the same for GRDA’s Unit 2 coal generator, which went online in the early 1980s but was upgraded in 2015 with new emissions control equipment and then rebuilt after a July 2016 fire.

Whether it’s a control upgrade on Unit 3’s auxiliary boiler, a turbine control upgrade on Unit 2 or hundreds of different tasks related to reliable and efficient electricity production, the GREC E/I&C Crew is involved in the work. Most importantly, by keeping all of these upgrades and other projects in-house, GRDA is better able to keep maintenance costs low, which in turn reduces the costs to GRDA customers.

That is a foundational part of the overall GRDA mission to provide low-cost, reliable electricity while also remaining dedicated to continuous improvements in efficiency.

Headquartered in Vinita, GRDA is Oklahoma’s state-owned electric utility; fully funded by revenues from electric and water sales instead of taxes. Each day, GRDA strives to be an “Oklahoma agency of excellence” by focusing on the 5 E’s: electricity, economic development, environmental stewardship, employees and efficiency.

Photo Caption Information: Maintenance to help meet the mission … Todd Arlt and Ben Asche, two members of the GRDA Grand River Energy Center (GREC) 12-member E/I&C Crew, take a closer look at the Unit 2 turbine during a maintenance outage earlier this year. The crew’s efforts and experience are key reasons why GRDA is able to meet its reliability and efficiency goals.

Justin Alberty
Vice President of Corporate Communications
Grand River Dam Authority
(918) 256 5545