The story behind the numbers

New rankings and new statistics but same beneficial idea… 

Recently, the American Public Power Association (APPA) released its 2023 Public Power Statistical Report, filled with a lot of information – and numbers – about the nation’s publicly-owned electric utilities, like the Grand River Dam Authority.

One of the significant numbers is 24, which is GRDA’s current ranking, in terms of total electric generation among those utilities. Of course, that ranking is based off another number – 5.4 million – which equals the number of net megawatt-hours generated by GRDA in a year (2021, most recent statistics). 

Another significant Oklahoma public power number is $35 million. That is the combined amount of money GRDA’s 15 Oklahoma municipal public power customer communities return to city coffers in a single year, through the public power model. It works like this: these communities buy abundant, reliable, wholesale electricity from GRDA at wholesale rates then resell that electricity to their residents at retail rates. Revenues generated from that process are then put to work in the respective communities, to maintain the system, fund other city services and buy more electricity from GRDA. Most importantly, these dollars stay at home, in Oklahoma, where they can do the most good.

It’s called “public power” and it’s a process that has worked in Oklahoma for many years. In fact, back when Pensacola Dam was the Authority’s only source of generation (a far cry from today’s 5.4 million megawatt-hours) several communities were already benefiting from their public power relationship with the Authority. Today, some of those relationships are over 75 years old!

There may be new numbers and new statistics each year, but the old story of public power’s success remains unchanged.

GRDA is Oklahoma’s largest public power 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.

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