News

GRDA Power For Progress Column September 16, 2019

Sep 19, 2019

Department Spotlight:
GRDA Metering Department

Like all other large electric utilities, the Grand River Dam Authority is sending a large amount of electricity across its high-voltage lines round-the-clock. That electricity flows from the source of production – a GRDA generation facility – to customers all across the system. Those customer use it to power homes, businesses, industrial and commercial operations. It takes a lot of experienced people, working very hard, to make sure the power is produced, delivered and accounted for.

One of the key departments involved in this process at GRDA is the Metering Department. Just like your electric or water meter at home, GRDA has meters to its customer locations that must track several areas of power information, while recording such data as current, voltage, kilowatt usage, power demand and more. Of course, this information is important to billing purposes but also important to GRDA to plan for future system growth and infrastructure needs.

The GRDA Metering Department is comprised of 8 employees, with a combined 143 years of on-the-job experience. That experience comes into play on a daily basis as they acquire, edit and export data to GRDA’s billing functions from over 400 meters spread across the system.

From Coffeyville, Kansas in the north, to Lindsay, Oklahoma in the west and from Siloam Springs, Arkansas in the east to Sallisaw in the south, the GRDA Metering Department covers a lot of territory for the Authority. Along the way, the department is installing and maintaining meters and metering communication equipment, developing custom meter software templates, and working with customers to provide information as required or requested. It is all in a day’s work for the GRDA Metering Department.

The efforts, expertise and dedication of the GRDA Metering Department are key reasons why GRDA is able to provide abundant, reliable power to its customers while also meeting its “5E” mission for all of Oklahoma.

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: Collecting the data … Clark Greene, a member of the GRDA Metering Department, checks a meter near the MidAmerica Industrial Park. This week, we take a closer look at the department’s role in the bigger GRDA picture.

Justin Alberty
Vice President of Corporate Communications
Grand River Dam Authority
(918) 256 5545
jalberty@grda.com