District is taking necessary steps to make sure we continue to deliver reliable utility services

Information released by Chelan County PUD

Effective Friday, March 13, Chelan County PUD is closing public access to its office lobbies and other public entrances, until further notice as our community faces increasing impacts from COVID-19. The closure effects PUD offices in Chelan, Leavenworth and Wenatchee.

Closing the lobbies and access to public meeting rooms and auditoriums is one of the many steps Chelan PUD is taking to make sure we continue to deliver vital electric, drinking water, sewer and broadband internet services to customer-owners during the coronavirus pandemic.

A number of community members have been tested locally for the coronavirus, and out of an abundance of caution, the lobby and auditorium closures are being implemented along with other Chelan PUD measures.

Chelan PUD Parks also has suspended taking reservations for special events in PUD parks through May 17, 2020.

The decision was made in close consultation with local, state and national health experts, and the PUD is following their lead on the actions needed – and on what additional steps are needed in the future. Chelan PUD also is in close contact with its neighbor PUDs. Actions in those counties may be different than what Chelan PUD is doing, based on events there and advice from those county health officials.

Chelan PUD continues to conduct business by phone and online.

  • Our Customer Relations staff is available by phone during weekday business hours at (509) 663-8121 or toll-free at 888-663-8121. Customers can leave payments in drop boxes by the doors at our Chelan and Leavenworth offices and in the back parking lot at the Wenatchee headquarters.
  • You can pay your PUD bill by phone at (509) 661-8729 or pay it online by going to chelanpud.org under “My PUD Services” on the home page choose “pay my bill” to follow the instructions to pay online. That’s also the place to go paperless by signing up to get your PUD bill by email with our Powerpay program.
  • PUD line crews are staffed and ready to respond to outages and restore service. Please continue to report outages on the 24/7 outage line at 877-783-8123.

Based on recommendations from Chelan Douglas Health District and the state Department of Health, we have halted business travel and canceled nearly all in-person meetings. We are using best practices for social distancing in our offices and at the few in-person meetings required for essential operations.

We are working with employees to allow those with risk factors to work from home. We also are taking steps by limiting contact with coworkers and the public to protect the employees who are needed at work to generate and deliver essential utility services.

As the situation evolves, we will respond and update our response. Please stay in touch with us at chelanpud.org, find us on Facebook.com/ChelanPUD and follow us on Twitter @ChelanPUD.

Be aware that you are likely to get even more scam calls during uncertain times like these. If you get a call from someone demanding you send payment immediately or your power will be shut off – hang up! Then call us at (509) 663-8121 to report it and check your account. (After hours you can call the 24/7 outage line at 877-783-8123. (Help in Spanish is available if customers who prefer.)

 We also want to echo what Chelan Douglas Health District shared Thursday: “The time to get serious about every available preventative measure is right now, today. Failure to do so will result in more deaths among neighbors and relatives, even though most of us will come through OK. To save as many precious lives as we can, WE NEED EACH OTHER.