ARLINGTON, MARCH 24: The new Snohomish County PUD North County Office opened in Arlington on Saturday, March 22.
The North County Office replaced the older offices in Stanwood and Arlington. Those offices had been built in the 1950s and no longer met safety regulations, including being seismically deficient meaning they would not be able to withstand a large earthquake.
“Being able to respond quickly and efficiently after a natural disaster is critically important to the PUD,” said PUD Commission President Sid Logan.
According to the Snohomish County PUD website, the North County Office complex includes a two-story, 25,900-square-foot office building with a customer service lobby and publicly available auditorium space with a capacity of 75, available to public rental on August 4. A 12,000-square-foot warehouse sits east of the office building and features a loading dock, tool room and covered heating parking for PUD trucks. The new warehouse and loading dock are capable of accommodating up to 10 crews. Currently, five crews will be working out of the new facility.
The facility will be able to service communities as far north as Darrington. In addition, Marysville and Tulalip will also receive service from the facility instead of the Everett station in an effort to ease congestion heading North on I-5.
The grand opening ceremony coincided with the 11th anniversary of the Oso landslides. Darrington Mayor Dan Rankin was in attendance, sharing the importance of having reassurance on how we will perform as a community throughout the future which is, ultimately, un-chartable.
The new building and warehouse is on the same property as the PUD’s Clean Energy Center, Community Solar array and line training yard, according to the PUD website. The buildings on site will be connected to and supported with uninterrupted electrical service from the Arlington Microgrid project, giving them the ability to “island” from the main grid.
“There’s never been a time, in my opinion and I think you’ll agree, that we’ve needed a reliable working power grid more than today,” said Don Vanney, Mayor of Arlington.
The grand opening provided tours of the new office space, public auditorium, warehouse, loading dock, microgrid and line training area where linemen demonstrated rescue techniques, climbing skills, and various other work scenarios to guests.
For more information on the services provided by the PUD, click here to visit their website.
