The Truckee Donner Public Utility District Board of Directors kicked off their January and February board meetings by approving capital investments in TDPUD’s water system, learning about enhancements to TDPUD’s electric reliability tracking and approving a power cost adjustment credit to customers, the California public power utility reported.
Capital Investment Water Projects
Continuing progress on its 10-year capital investment plan, TDPUD’s water department is already getting underway with its 2026 capital projects. This year, the water department will be taking on six major projects, and at its February meeting the board voted to approve various contracts for engineering, testing and construction services related to these investments in service reliability and safety.
District Pipeline Replacement: TDPUD has a multi-year water pipeline replacement plan, which identifies areas of the system most in need of replacement due to age, and prioritizes this work over time to make it more manageable and cost-efficient. This year, TDPUD will be replacing approximately 2,600 feet of water main, nearly 1,700 feet of laterals, hydrants and all asphalt restoration in Tahoe Donner at the Ski Bowl Condominiums and at Donner Pass Road at Fire Station 92.
Hirschdale Pipeline: TDPUD operates two separate water systems in the Truckee area -- the Hirschdale System and the Truckee Main System. TDPUD has identified the need to construct a pipeline to connect the two systems, to improve efficiency, reduce operating costs and so customers on the Hirschdale System can still be served when that system’s only well needs to be taken out of service for maintenance work.
Martiswoods Hydropneumatic Pump Station: This neighborhood is currently served by TDPUD’s only raised-elevation tank, and the existing equipment has reached end of life. This capital investment will replace the existing system with a modern and efficient hydropneumatic pump station and controls ensuring long-term service reliability and safety.
District Pipeline Rehabilitation: TDPUD has identified some areas of pipeline that are in need of repair, but due to their location or ability to access, rehabilitation is more cost-effective than replacement. This year, TDPUD has four projects that are either under a state highway or in environmentally sensitive areas and will be rehabilitating water mains in Tahoe Donner that cross under Trout Creek (near Baden Road and near Zermatt Drive) and cross under Alder Creek (near Ski Bowl Condominiums). TDPUD will also be rehabilitating a water main that crosses under State Route 89 (near Rainbow Drive).
Water Storage Tank Rehabilitation: Similar to TDPUD pipeline projects, when it comes to large water storage tanks, preventative maintenance pays off in the long run as replacement can be very expensive. As a result, TDPUD conducts comprehensive maintenance and periodically conducts re-evaluations of aging water tanks to determine if rehabilitation is a more cost-effective solution than replacement. This year, TDPUD is inspecting and planning to rehabilitate The Strand tank in Glenshire and the Donner Trails water storage tank No. 2.
SCADA Reliability Improvement Project
Staff also gave an update on the multi-year Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) Reliability Improvement Project which connects the TDPUD’s major electric and water facilities to the TDPUD’s headquarters by installing fiber and other high-speed communications equipment.
To date, the TDPUD has deployed over 100 miles of fiber throughout the greater Truckee community, with approximately 60 miles planned over the next few years. It is important to note that, although TDPUD has deployed this fiber for SCADA, this same fiber is used by TDPUD’s telecommunications partner Plumas Sierra Telecom (PST) to offer high-speed, fiber-based broadband services in Truckee. The 2026 SCADA Reliability Improvement Project will go along Glenshire Drive.
Electric Utility Reliability Metrics
TDPUD staff presented enhancements it is making to its reliability metric tracking. Reliability metrics track the frequency and duration of outages, as well as the impact to customers. They provide TDPUD with measurable data that informs how it should prioritize operational priorities and capital investment decisions in order to improve the safety and reliability of its electric service.
Electric utilities track reliability using three metrics:
• System Average Interruption Frequency Index (SAIFI): measures how often outages occur by tracking how often the average customer experiences an outage within a given time period.
• System Average Interruption Duration Index (SAIDI): measures the total customer impact by tracking the total amount of time the average customer is without power in a given time period.
• Customer Average Interruption Duration Index (CAIDI): measures how quickly power is restored, by tracking how long it takes to restore power once an outage occurs.
Starting in 2026, TDPUD will be formally tracking SAIFI, SAIDI and CAIDI. Staff will present these electric system reliability metrics to the board and public monthly during the “department update” portion of the TDPUD regularly scheduled board meetings.
Power Cost Adjustment Credit
TDPUD’s Power Cost Adjustment (PCA) program for electric customers generates either a credit or a charge meant to reflect the difference between the actual and budgeted cost of power purchasing for a timeframe.
For the fourth quarter of 2025, the cost of the power TDPUD purchased was less than the kilowatt-hour rate charged on bills, so electric customers will receive a credit ($0.0001 per kWh billed). This very small adjustment will decrease the average customer bill by $0.07 per month on their March, April and May bills to reflect this difference. For the past eight quarters, since TDPUD adopted the PCA program, TDPUD customers have received a credit for seven of those quarters, and a charge for one quarter.
At the January board meeting, the TDPUD board adopted a resolution honoring Dan Wilkins for his many years of service, leadership and collaboration as the Town of Truckee’s Public Works director. Staff shared some of the highlights of Wilkins’ 27-year career with the town, including many joint projects the town and TDPUD worked on together that will have a lasting impact on the Truckee community. The board shared their appreciation for Wilkins’ work over the years, and offered well wishes as he enters retirement.
