TRUCKEE, Calif. – The Truckee Donner Public Utility District is excited to announce that its board of directors is updating the agency’s strategic initiatives, and it wants the community’s input to help create TDPUD’s vision for the future of Truckee.

TDPUD went through a strategic planning process in 2021, which set the course for the agency through 2024. During that process, the TDPUD board developed strategic initiatives that defined long-term, ambitious projects for the agency, which the community expressed support for in public workshops. The four strategic initiatives adopted by the board were enabling community-wide broadband, undergrounding overhead utilities, purchasing 100%clean renewable energy and pursuing local clean power generation.

Earlier this year, the board and staff began a mid-cycle review of those initiatives, to ensure TDPUD is on the right path and utilizing its resources in the best way possible to serve the community. During this review process, they determined that while the original initiatives were focused on specific projects, focusing instead on the desired outcome or goal would allow TDPUD to achieve the same or similar results more efficiently.

---

---

The board has recently defined new or updated strategic initiatives, which they are again asking the community to weigh in on before they are considered for adoption later in the year.

“We are really looking forward to bringing these big ideas to the community, and listening to what our customers have to say,” said TDPUD Board President Jeff Bender. “The board wants to harness the district’s expertise to help move Truckee forward, accomplish important goals and improve the quality of life of our customers.Now we’re asking our community to join us in getting there.”

---

---

Community Broadband

This initiative is the least changed from 2021, but it has evolved the most following a board broadband committee, general manager task force and an in-depth scoping study conducted by an outside consultant that showed that the community is unsatisfied, but not underserved when it comes to internet access. The next step is to pursue funding for a full feasibility study/business plan for the potential options identified for enabling community-wide broadbandandweigh them against need, risks and cost.

Service Reliability and Safety

This is a reimagining of the original “underground of overhead utilities” initiative, which the public identified as a chief concern following catastrophic wildfires in our region at the time. However, undergrounding utilities is not a silver bullet against fire danger; it is extremely costly and there are other options to consider. The board is proposing this initiative so that TDPUD can focus on continuing to improve system reliability and safety for both the electric and water utility through the most feasible actions.

Net Carbon Reduction

This initiative is a combination of the “100% clean renewable energy” and “local clean generation” initiatives. The ultimate goal behind these initiatives is to reduce the amount of carbon in Truckee’s environment, or being produced by Truckee’s actions. However, both of these focused solely on energy procurement as a means of greenhouse gas reduction,without considering how and when we use electricity. TDPUD wants to make meaningful progress towards greenhouse gas reduction through both energy purchase as well as conservation, while also weighing costs and benefits.

Local Watershed Stewardship

This is a completely new initiative that focuses on how, as a 100% groundwater agency, TDPUD can have a positive impact on the stewardship and quality of Truckee’s overall watershed. TDPUD has committed to going beyond regulatory standards when it comes to managing Truckee’s groundwater basin. It now wants to explore what its role should be in the overall watershed, and how itcan partner with local water stewardship stakeholders.

Community Circles

The proposed initiatives are meant to benefit the community and improve the quality of life in Truckee, so they need to align with customers’ needs. TDPUD wants to help its community pursue goals around safety, sustainability, stewardship and more, but also has a responsibility to keep rates affordable and service reliable.

Community input will be crucial as TDPUD decides how to invest in Truckee’s future. TDPUD will be holding multiple public meetings–called Community Circles–to receive input from community members. Seven meetings will be held in mid-September, organized by neighborhood.

See below for the full schedule of remaining events.

Downtown/Gateway/Deerfield/MeadowPark: Monday, Sept. 18 at the Community Arts Center, 5:30-7 p.m.

Makeup session for all neighborhoods: Tuesday, Sept. 19 at TDPUD, 5:30-7p.m.Spanish translation services will be available at every meeting. All customers and community members are welcome to attend and engage with TDPUD. For more information, visit tdpud.org/ourfuture.