Building a Stronger Connection
In 1986, Lassen County residents voted to form the Lassen Municipal Utility District (LMUD) to take electricity service from the investor-owned utility into their own hands. LMUD took out $23.2 million in bonds to buy the utility and began serving customers in 1988. The journey toward energy independence didn’t stop with the purchase of the existing infrastructure. The goal was, and still is, to solidify our community’s connection to the grid.
LMUD serves our customers through energy purchases through long-term contracts and energy markets. This energy is transmitted to LMUD over the grid to reach your home or business. We are connected to the grid via a single PG&E transmission line that winds its way through Feather River Canyon. The transmission line location makes it particularly vulnerable to damage due to weather and wildfires. Since LMUD’s inception, there has been a vision to provide our electric system with a redundant feed, removing our reliance on the single transmission line and improving the reliability of electric service for our community.
In April 2011, just before LMUD made its last payment on the initial bond to buy the utility, the board took that money and allocated it to a reserve account dedicated to the construction of a redundant feed. Today, we are closer than ever to realizing that goal with the Skedaddle Project. At $40 million, this project is a historic investment in ensuring LMUD can deliver safe and reliable power to all our customers.
In May 2025, LMUD issued a public bid opportunity for the construction of the Skedaddle Substation. Contractors nationwide flocked to the Skedaddle Substation site in Wendel to assess the project and begin preparing their bids. Later that month, at the May regular board meeting, the LMUD Board of Directors awarded a contract to the most qualified and lowest cost bidder, with construction scheduled to begin this month. Equipment and materials from all over the world will be delivered to the substation site in the next 12 months. LMUD is also building a new heavy-duty transmission line to connect the new Skedaddle Substation to our existing grid.
The construction of the Skedaddle Substation is a monumental task, and its completion speaks volumes about the expertise and dedication of the LMUD staff. Whether it be crews in the field, customer service representatives in the lobby, or technicians in the back office, we are all focused on delivering safe, reliable, and affordable power to our community.
Skedaddle has a projected in-service date of December 2026.
As we continue on our journey of delivering safe, reliable, and affordable power, we are working on many more strategic objectives and initiatives. I invite you to learn more about the decisions that affect you. Join us at our monthly board meetings on the 4th Tuesday of the month at 5:30 p.m. in our boardroom at 65 South Roop Street.
Nick Dominguez
General Manager