Chelan County PUD nears completion of electrical upgrades along N. Dryden Road

DRYDEN — With all of the projects that the Chelan County PUD is involved in, it’s easy to forget just how much the agency is responsible for. After all, there are a lot of simultaneous projects and Chelan County is a pretty big place.

But despite all of the tasks on their plate, the PUD keeps up with even the small projects, revealing their dedication to all of the residents of Chelan County, and not just the ones in the more urban areas.

Dryden, one of the smallest communities in the Wenatchee Valley at somewhere near 500 people, often gets overlooked if you don’t live there, in fact. But there, along the Wenatchee River, beyond what you can see from Highway 2, is a large part of the beating heart of Washington’s fruit industry, and the people of Dryden need modernized electricity delivery no matter what the size of their community.

Chelan County PUD is nearing completion of electrical upgrades along North Dryden Road. The project involved replacing aging equipment and overhead power lines on wood poles from Main Street, across Highway 2, and onto Josephine Avenue. These upgrades are crucial for maintaining reliable electric service in the area.

The project began in mid-June, and you can spot where they’ve replaced some of the poles by the fact that the old pole is still there, awaiting removal. They estimated a maximum of six weeks for installation from the beginning of the project, so by the beginning of August, all the new poles may be sunk in the ground.

The PUD kept working hours down to four days a week, nine hours a day to eliminate the possibility of disrupting peaceful nights and keep from overcrowding parking areas, which are mostly pull-outs along the road. They anticipated a little bit of one-lane flagged traffic direction in areas, and they were worried that there might be power outages.

Tom Elser, 84, of Dryden, says no such thing has happened thus far. In fact, he hasn’t been bothered much by the construction at all, and he lives directly across from two of the pole replacements, one in front of the ballfield from the old Dryden School and one half a block away. “I saw them put that one in,” he says, pointing to the one just down from the field, “but they were so quick with this one I missed it entirely.” The one he missed is right in front of his house across School Street, so the PUD must have been totally on their game that day.

When asked whether he experienced any power outages during the process, he said “Not for a minute.” And he’d know — the bright green walk-behind mower he’s pushing around his yard on July 23 has a rechargeable battery.

The PUD says that total completion will take place by the end of the year, including aesthetic stuff like cleaning up the landscaping at the base of the new poles. But they can’t take out the old ones until the wires are transferred, and that’s the part of the process when Elser might find himself without power briefly.

Whether he loses power before the project is fully complete or not, Tom Elser is one of the reasons that the Chelan County PUD is doing the hard work of maintaining rural infrastructure and electrical capacity.

Andrew Simpson: 509-433-7626 or andrew@ward.media