Every person, every family, every community has traditions. And that is certainly true in Sallisaw. In your community, tradition may mean cheering for the Sallisaw Black Diamonds on Friday night, shopping main street on Saturday morning and going to Grandma's for dinner on Sunday afternoons.
But did you also know that your community's electric department is part of a broad tradition that connects it to thousands of other communities across the United States? That tradition is called public power and it is an American tradition that works in Sallisaw.
The first week in October is designated Public Power Week in the United States and it is a good time to join with Sallisaw, the nation's 2,000 other public power communities and the American Public Power Association to celebrate the tradition of local control and local ownership, custom fit to meet local needs.
That tradition has worked for decades; ever since city fathers decided Sallisaw should own, operate and govern its own electric distribution system. They had a vision for this community that is alive and well today. They chose to establish an electric distribution system that would provide low-cost, reliable electric power to community residents, while at the same time enhancing city services and quality of life. If you are a customer of Sallisaw's locally-owned electric department, the money you spend on electricity does not go to some out-of-state stockholder seeking a profit. Rather, that money goes back into city coffers. Then it is used to light the streets, pay the firemen and policemen, keep the parks looking nice and yes, even to purchase more electricity. Through the tradition of public power, the community of Sallisaw continues to help itself.
As the wholesale electric supplier for the City of Sallisaw, the Grand River Dam Authority is proud of the long-standing partnership it has with the community. Like Sallisaw, GRDA is also a public power utility. As an agency of the state of Oklahoma, GRDA is also owned by the people. GRDA produces electricity and sells it to public power partners, like Sallisaw, at not-for-profit rates. And, like the community's electric system, GRDA is governed by the people it serves; seven directors, representing GRDA customers, lake area interests and the state at-large meet once a month, in meetings that are open to the public, to make the decisions that guide GRDA.
GRDA produces electricity at three hydroelectric facilities (Pensacola Dam, Robert S. Kerr Dam and the Salina Pumped Storage Project) and two thermal-generation units (Coal-Fired Complex, Chouteau). It then sells power to industries, electric cooperatives, to Sallisaw and several other public power communities in Oklahoma.
Besides supplying electricity, GRDA also provides and manages 70,000 surface acres of water for recreation in Northeast Oklahoma, works side by side with other organizations to develop the region's economy, and supporting community events in public power hometowns, like Sallisaw.
GRDA is proud of its public power partnership with Sallisaw and looks forward to working side by side with its citizens, to benefit the community for many years to come.
KEVIN A. EASLEY
CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER
GRAND RIVER DAM AUTHORITY
