Leading energy: Rich Wallen new head of Grant County PUD

EPHRATA — Rich Wallen didn’t take the traditional path to get to his new job as general manager and chief executive officer of the Grant County Public Utility District.

Wallen was selected as GM/CEO by PUD commissioners Feb. 8. He has worked for the PUD since 2017, beginning as the managing director of power production. He was named chief operating officer in 2019.

Wallen said he was introduced to power production on the job. He joined the U.S. Navy directly after high school and was assigned to the USS Enterprise, the Navy’s first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier.

A native of West Virginia, Wallen said he went to work for an energy company in the Southeast after his six years in the Navy. It was then that he enrolled in college.

“I was an adult learner,” he said.

He had the technical background for the jobs he had, he said, but he thought he needed more training to further his career. He graduated from West Virginia University and received an MBA from Clayton State University.

The decision to head west came after a family vacation in the Pacific Northwest, he said, and a drive across the state of Washington. The family stopped in Moses Lake and liked what they found. He started looking for jobs in the region and there was an opening at the Grant County PUD. He wanted to work for a public power agency, he said.

“An opportunity presented itself and I applied. The rest is history, I guess,” Wallen said.

While the method for producing power is different – a hydropower facility isn’t like a nuclear reactor – once the power is produced, delivering it is a pretty standard process, Wallen said.

“Not to say they’re all the same, but they’re not that much different,” he said. “There are, really, a lot of similarities.”

At the time he applied to the PUD he was working for a cooperative in Georgia, which, while it was a privately owned company, had a similar directive to the PUD. The goal was – and is – to deliver reliable electricity at the lowest cost, he said.

Making the move across the country required some family discussion.

“It was a big decision for us,” he said.

It was a big move but a positive one, he said. The Grant County PUD is owned by its customers, and that affects how it’s managed.

“You come here and your focus is on people,” he said.

The PUD operates Wanapum and Priest Rapids dams, and under various agreements receives about 60% of the electricity generated by them. The PUD is getting close to using up its share of that electricity, with much of that demand driven by an influx of businesses that use a lot of electricity.

The needs of large customers have to be balanced with the needs of the businesses, residents and industries that make the PUD’s traditional customers, Wallen said. At the same time, the PUD still needs to be attractive to any potential customer who wants to come, he added.

Wallen said he wants to involve PUD employees and provide additional opportunities for advancement for current and future staff. One of his goals is to promote from within the PUD where possible.

“I really want us to focus on people, too,” he said.

Wallen said he feels privileged to work for the PUD, and honored to get the general manager’s job.

“We can really do some amazing things,” he said.

Cheryl Schweizer can be reached via email at cschweizer@columbiabasinherald.com.