Press Release: Eugene Water and Electric Board’s Unanimously Votes to Decommission Leaburg Hydroelectric Project on the McKenzie River


January 4, 2023 — Following years of extensive research, analysis, and outreach, the Eugene Water and Electric Board (EWEB) Commission voted unanimously to initiate a plan to decommission the Leaburg Hydroelectric Project on the McKenzie River at its January 3 meeting. The Board of Commissioners formally approved EWEB General Manager Frank Lawson’s December 6 recommendations to decommission the project, which discontinued electricity generation in 2018, and remove the aging Leaburg Dam.