The Grand River Dam Authority (GRDA) is an agency of the state of Oklahom
created to control, develop, and maintain the
Grand River (Oklahoma), Grand River waterway. It was created by the Oklahoma state legislature in 1935, and is headquartered in Tulsa, Oklahoma. GRDA was designed to be self-funding from the sales of electricity and water. The state of Oklahoma was to provide no funding from taxes. The Authority was authorized to issue revenue bonds to fund large-scale capital investments.
According to GRDA's 2012 Annual Report, the agency had nearly US $412 million in operating revenue for 2012, compared to nearly US $395.5 million in 2011.
It operates three hydroelectric facilities and two reservoirs,
Grand Lake,
Lake Hudson, and the
Salina Pumped Storage Project, which includes
W. R. Holway Reservoir, It also owns and operates the GRDA Energy Center (formerly named the GRDA Coal-Fired Complex). The Energy Control Center, home of the GRDA's System Operations Center, is at the Robert S. Kerr Dam, just north of
Locust Grove, Oklahoma
Locust Grove is a town in Mayes County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 1,423 at the 2010 census, a 4.2 percent increase over the figure of 1,366 recorded in 2000.
History
Locust Grove was the site of the Battle of Locust Grove, a ...
. In July 2016, it absorbed the mission of the Oklahoma Scenic Rivers Commission to manage, preserve and protect the waters of the scenic Illinois River. Its joint ventures include the Canadian Hills wind farm. GRDA's jurisdiction covers 24 counties in northeastern Oklahoma.
[ Glen Roberson, "Grand River Dam Authority." ''Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture''.](_blank)
Retrieved March 9, 2014.
History
The ''Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture'' credits Henry Holderman, a member of the Cherokee tribe, as first envisioning Grand River as a source for hydroelectric power for the
Cherokee Nation. Even prior to Oklahoma statehood in 1907, Holderman began building political support for such a project. A feasibility study by the
Army Corps of Engineers attracted favorable attention in the Oklahoma legislature, leading to creation of the Grand River Dam Authority (GRDA), a state agency, in 1935. Construction began in 1938 on the
Pensacola Dam
The Pensacola Dam, also known as the Grand River Dam, is a multiple- arch buttress dam on the Grand River in-between Disney and Langley in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The dam is operated by the Grand River Dam Authority and creates Grand L ...
on the
Grand River (Oklahoma), Grand River (
lower Neosho River) as a
Works Progress Administration
The Works Progress Administration (WPA; renamed in 1939 as the Work Projects Administration) was an American New Deal agency that employed millions of jobseekers (mostly men who were not formally educated) to carry out public works projects, i ...
project. The dam was completed in March 1940, creating the lake behind it. Between 1941 and 1946, the U.S. government took control of Pensacola Dam to divert power to the war effort. Control was returned to the GRDA by the Congress and President Truman amid local celebration in August 1946.
The second hydroelectric facility built by GRDA was the Markham Ferry project. In 1961, the Markham Ferry dam (since renamed as the Robert S. Kerr Dam) was begun downstream of Pensacola Dam on the Grand River. The lake it impounded was named
Lake Hudson. The project was completed in 1964.
[U. S. Army Corps of Engineers. "Lake Hudson (Markham Ferry Reservoir)."](_blank)
Retrieved September 19, 2011. The powerhouse has four hydroelectric turbines, providing a total capacity of 114,000 kW. GRDA states that an average year can provide 211 million kWh.
The
Salina Pumped Storage Project constructed for GRDA during 1968 - 1971, created
Lake W. R. Holway
Lake W. R. Holway, or Chimney Rock Lake is a reservoir in Mayes County, Oklahoma on the Saline Creek arm of Lake Hudson (Oklahoma). It was created in 1968 by the Grand River Dam Authority (GRDA) as an integral part of the Salina Pumped Storage Proj ...
. It was designed to produce 260 MW of power during peak consumption periods. During periods of lower power demand, water is pumped from Lake Hudson to Lake Holway and released back down through the pump-generators during periods of high energy demand.
[Wagman, David. ''Power Engineering''. "Salina Pumped Storage Project." May 1, 2006. Retrieved September 17, 201]
/ref>
In the late 1970s, the Authority decided to build the GRDA Coal-fired Power Generation Complex, located near Chouteau, Oklahoma
Chouteau is the second-largest town in Mayes County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 2,097 at the 2010 census, an increase of 8.6 percent over the figure of 1,931 recorded in 2000.
Geography
Chouteau is located at .
According to th ...
. Now more than four decades old, the two units need extensive retrofits to meet new emission regulations and to improve energy efficiency with more modern technologies.
In 2008, GRDA, Oklahoma Gas & Electric (OG&E) and Oklahoma Municipal Power Authority (OMPA) jointly purchased the Redbud Generation facility near Luther, Oklahoma
Luther is a town in Oklahoma County, Oklahoma, United States, and a part of the Oklahoma City Metropolitan Area. The population was 1,221 at the 2010 census. Sperling Best Places lists the population of 4073 for the 73054 Luther zip code, which in ...
for 434.5 million. The facility uses natural-gas fueled turbines to generate electricity. Rated capacity was 1230 MW. GRDA owns 36 percent of the venture, while OG&E owns 51 percent and is designated as the operator. OMPA owns the balance.
GRDA broke ground in 2013 for a new visitors' center adjacent to Pensacola Dam. The building was designed to be the home of GRDA Ecosystems Management offices, a state-of-the-art water research lab, offices for the Grand Lake Area Chamber of Commerce, a community auditorium and historical exhibits.
On June 13, 2012, GRDA approved becoming a member of the Large Public Power Council (LPPC). The LPPC consists of the largest publicly owned not-for-profit, electric utilities in the U.S. LPPC’s priorities include tax and finance issues, interaction with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, energy and environmental policies.["GRDA to join large public power council." ''Pryor Times''. June 19, 2012. Retrieved March 12, 2014.]
Recent developments
Proposed privatization
Governor Mary Fallin
Mary Fallin (; née Copeland; born December 9, 1954) is an American politician who served as the 27th governor of Oklahoma from 2011 to 2019. A member of the Republican Party, she was elected in 2010 and reelected in 2014. She was the first and s ...
(R) issued an executive order in July 2013 to establish a 15-member task force that would research the possibility of dismantling GRDA and selling its assets. The members chosen by the governor have “experience or interest in energy issues.” It would include two members of her “Bold Ideas” task force.[Baron, Cindy]
Times - Pryor Creek, Oklahoma."Fallin wants to sell GRDA."
July 18, 2013. Retrieved March 9, 2014.
Governor Fallin announced on August 13, 2013, that she was suspending the task force and its work indefinitely. She said that she still supported the mission of the task force, she realized that the timing was bad and that the review could undermine GRDA's efforts to sell revenue bonds.
Canadian Hills wind farm
GRDA has a financial interest in a wind turbine "farm" near El Reno, Oklahoma
El Reno is a city in and county seat of Canadian County, Oklahoma, Canadian County, Oklahoma, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city population was 16,989, marking a change of 1.55% from 16,729, recorded in the ...
developed by Apex Wind Energy Holdings LLC and Atlantic Power Corp. Known as the Canadian Hills wind farm, it will sell power to GRDA, the Oklahoma Municipal Power Authority and Southwestern Electric Power Co., a Louisiana-based unit of American Electric Power
American Electric Power (AEP), (railcar reporting mark: AEPX) is a major investor-owned electric utility in the United States, delivering electricity to more than five million customers in 11 states.
AEP ranks among the nation's largest g ...
. The facility initially had 135 turbines and a design output of 300 megawatts of electric power. Google, Inc. contracted with GRDA to buy up to 48 megawatts of this power for its data center in Pryor, Oklahoma
Pryor Creek or Pryor''Oklahoma Atlas & Gazeteer,'' DeLorme, 1st Edition, 1998, p. 36 is a city in and county seat of Mayes County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 8,659 at the 2000 census and 9,539 in the 2010 census.
Originally ...
.[Monies, Pau]
"Google signs wind-power agreement with Oklahoma's Grand River Dam Authority."
NewsOK. September 27, 2012. Retrieved March 9, 2014.
Natural gas fired generation facility
On January 14, 2014, the GRDA Board of Directors approved purchase and installation of gas turbine generators to be installed at the GRDA Coal-Fired Complex in Chouteau
Chouteau was the name of a highly successful, ethnically French fur-trading family based in Saint Louis, Missouri, which they helped found.
Their ancestors Chouteau and Laclède initially settled in New Orleans. They then moved-up the Mississipp ...
. The new unit, which is known as Unit 3, is estimated to cost US$372 million, is designed to produce 495 megawatts (MW) of electric power. The turbine-generators alone will cost US$77.84 million.["GRDA Board approves purchase of turbine generators for new electric generation plant."](_blank)
News release from GRDA. KOAM 7. January 22, 2014. Mitsubishi Power Systems is supplying M501J gas turbines and SRT-50 steam turbines for the new unit.
Concurrently, the Authority renamed the Chouteau complex as the Grand River Energy Center.["GRDA Changes Name, Expands Role Of Its Chouteau Power Plant."](_blank)
February 25, 2014. Retrieved March 10, 2014.
The new combined cycle generation process is energy-efficient because natural gas fuels a gas turbine that directly generates power. Then the hot turbine exhaust gas is cooled by boiling water to generate more steam, which drives a steam-powered generator and generates more electric power. The new generation unit was expected to be put in service in 2017, and has since been brought on-line.
Organization
Officers
As of January 2019
**Executive Management
**President/Chief Executive Officer - Dan Sullivan
***Chief Operating Officer - Tim Brown
***Chief Financial Officer - Lorie Gudde
***Executive Vice President/Chief of Law Enforcement - Brian Edwards
***Executive Vice President of Corporate & Strategic Communications - John Wiscaver
***Executive Vice President for External Relations - Nathan Reese
***Executive Vice President of Human Resources - Laura Hunter
***Executive Assistant to CEO / Corporate Secretary - Shelia Allen
***Vice President of Grand River Energy Center Operations - Robert Ladd
***General Counsel - Heath Lofton
Budget and Personnel
Standard & Poor's (S&P) Rating Services upgraded GRDA's credit rating in 2007 from "BBB+" to "A−", and improved the outlook from "stable" to "positive". While GRDA has received three rating outlook improvement from rating agencies in recent years, S&P's announcement was historic, marking the first rating upgrade in GRDA's history. The Fitch Rating Service followed suit in 2008. The A− rating was still in effect at the end of 2012, meaning that GRDA has very favorable terms for borrowing money.
According to GRDA's 2012 Annual Report, the agency had nearly US $412 million in operating revenue for 2012, compared to nearly US $395.5 million in 2011.[GRDA. Comprehensive annual financing report - 2012. Downloaded March 10, 2014.]
GRDA, as of Fiscal Year 2009, had an annual operating budget of $314 million and employed 450 employees (390 classified and 60 unclassified).
See also
* Grand Lake o' the Cherokees
* Lake Hudson
* Salina Pumped Storage Project
References
Further reading
* W. R. Holway
William Rea Holway (April 29, 1893 – April 23, 1981), commonly known as W. R. Holway, was an American civil engineer who became prominent in Oklahoma. He is best known for his work on major water supply projects for the city of Tulsa, and on ...
, ''A History of the Grand River Dam Authority, State of Oklahoma, 1935-1968'', 2 vols. (Tulsa, Okla.: N.p., 1968 69).
Voices of Oklahoma interview with Dr. Bruce Howard about the creation of Grand Lake O’ the Cherokees and Pensacola Dam.
First person interview conducted on December 2, 2014 with Dr. Bruce Howard about the creation of Grand Lake O’ the Cherokees and Pensacola Dam. Original audio and transcript archived wit
Voices of Oklahoma oral history project.
External links
Grand River Dam Authority
GRDA Website
''Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture'' - Grand River Dam Authority
Grand River Dam Authority (82 O.S. § 861)
{{Authority control
Organizations based in Oklahoma
1935 establishments in Oklahoma
Electric power companies of the United States