EWEB at-large seat: Eric Dziura and Alexi Miller

Correction: An earlier version of this story misstated the age of EWEB Commissioner John Brown.

In an increasingly complex era of climate change, rising costs and shifting energy demands, two mechanical engineers are vying for the citywide at-large seat on the Eugene Water & Electric Board.

The five-member board acts as the representative legislative body for the utility’s customer-owners. Four commissioners represent seven wards throughout Eugene, including John Brown, who is running unopposed for the seat representing city Wards 4 and 5. 

Eric Dziura and Alexi Miller are competing for a seat that represents customers across the city, previously held by outgoing Commissioner Mindy Schlossberg.

Commissioners serve four-year terms and are responsible for guiding EWEB’s strategic direction, approving the annual budget, setting electric and water rates, and hiring and evaluating the general manager. They do not receive a salary or a stipend for their service, but they can be reimbursed for relevant expenses. 

Nearly 80% of EWEB’s electricity comes from the Bonneville Power Administration, which generates power from 31 dams on the Columbia River and its tributaries. Locally, EWEB owns the Carmen-Smith Hydropower Project on the McKenzie River. 

The EWEB race comes as this infrastructure faces mounting legal and environmental pressures, including an effort to conserve salmon that comes with a tradeoff of producing less power. Recently, conservation groups have called on federal regulators to take action at a dam that is part of the Carmen-Smith system, which blocks the natural migration of endangered fish species that swim up and down the McKenzie River.

Meanwhile, energy demands are growing, driven in part by extreme temperatures and massive power-hungry data centers across the state.

In response, EWEB has turned to a pilot project aimed at reducing peak demand: using a gas-powered turbine owned by the University of Oregon to add power to the system. Critics have called the fallback to fossil fuels counterproductive to regional climate goals.

Additionally, the utility is embarking on construction of a new $160 million water treatment plant on the Willamette River, an addition to its Hayden Bridge Water Filtration Plant on the McKenzie River.

Here is what Lookout Eugene-Springfield learned about the candidates and where they stand on these challenges.

Eric Dziura

Eric Dziura has a strong technical foundation, but he said customers should not need that kind of background to understand their utility.

Dziura and his wife moved to Eugene’s Bethel neighborhood about 2½ years ago to retire and be closer to family.

Living in a community with a Superfund site — the legacy of the J.H. Baxter & Co. plant — has made Dziura highly attuned to the environmental traumas experienced by his neighbors, and he emphasizes that EWEB must remain extremely sensitive to the community’s fear of toxic emissions.

But he keeps all neighborhoods in mind as he campaigns. 

“This particular seat represents all of Eugene. So that’s a lot of different constituencies and ideas and concerns and all of those sorts of things. I think I’m a good listener. I love engaging with people in small groups to talk these things over. That’s probably where I’m at my best,” he said. 

Dziura said his top three priorities are affordability, reliability and responsible climate progress.

While hydropower is economically responsible, he acknowledges that it comes with environmental trade-offs. 

“There is no more economically responsible source of energy on the planet right now (than hydropower). Not saying it doesn’t have downsides, but as sources go, it’s pretty good,” he said. 

The downside includes hydropower’s threat to fish. Dziura supports the efforts to protect salmon and bull trout in the McKenzie River and agrees that urgent intervention before the upcoming August spawning season may be required as conservation groups have asked for in a petition.

Dziura advocates for a diverse energy portfolio, pointing out that his own home is completely powered by solar energy. But every energy source comes with a trade-off, he said.

“However you choose your energy portfolio to, you know, to acquire your energy … there are always downsides, and there are always costs in managing these, all these different kinds of energies that we have,” Dziura said. 

Dziura worries that data centers are expanding dangerously fast and says that tech companies building AI infrastructure must take financial responsibility for their massive power usage rather than passing those costs onto everyday ratepayers. 

Regarding water quality, Dziura strongly backs the construction of a secondary water intake on the Willamette River, emphasizing that Eugene’s current Hayden Bridge facility is old and highly vulnerable to wildfires, earthquakes and chemical spills. 

For all these issues, he said, his approach is to “build on what is working well, while reinforcing disciplined governance, clearer communication and accountability to the community.

“EWEB has a strong foundation and dedicated staff, but like many public agencies, there are areas where governance can be strengthened,” he said, specifically with long-term financial planning and public engagement. “Commissioners should consistently ask hard questions, evaluate alternatives and focus on long-term impacts.”

Alexi Miller

Alexi Miller wants to bring his expertise in national energy policy to the local level. 

Miller lives in the Jefferson Westside neighborhood in the same house where he was born and raised, raising his own children there. His family has a tradition of public service, with his mother serving as an EWEB commissioner and two other parents serving on Eugene City Council. 

They believe the ethos to “leave it better than you found it” applies to the government and the environment, he said. 

Miller said his top goals are affordability, environmental protection and clean energy, and resilience and reliability.

“It’s technical stuff, but one thing I really like doing, and I get to do a lot in my job, is think about these technical issues and this policy-wonk kind of topics, and then bring it into language or concepts or strategies or applications that make sense for the actual people that are dealing with this,” he said. 

He sees environmental justice largely through the lens of energy burden, where people spend a significant portion of their income on utility bills. He wants EWEB to act as a one-stop shop for streamlined weatherization and electrification upgrades to permanently lower utility bills for families who struggle to afford basic utilities.

Some of that affordability and accessibility comes down to diversifying the grid. Miller advocates for building a network of “resilience hubs” across Eugene, which are community solar stations paired with microgrids that can provide backup power during emergencies. 

But he sees hydropower as a large part of the mix.

“Affordability is our number one challenge that I would say for EWEB and a lot of people right now. But on the other hand, we don’t want salmon to go extinct,” he said. “That’s like a critical symbol of the Northwest. And it’s not just symbolic. It’s like a real thing with real economic and other implications, plus we, the people of the United States, signed treaties with tribes, and should uphold those.” 

Regarding the conservationists’ petition about fish passage, he wants EWEB to “consider all realistic alternatives” and “move forward expediently.” 

Miller strongly opposes hosting AI data centers in Lane County, calling them “extractive” facilities that suck up grid capacity without providing significant long-term jobs. He prefers saving that electrical headroom to electrify local homes and transportation.

Regarding water quality, Miller strongly supports the secondary water intake on the Willamette River.

He said his approach is to direct EWEB staff to provide “comprehensive, apples-to-apples comparisons.”

“Dealing with these changes won’t be easy,” he said. “We need vision and long-term strategic planning to ensure that Eugene continues to have clean water and power by the people, for the people, for many more years to come.”

John Brown 

Brown’s top priorities are affordability, reliability and climate goals. He said he would continue monitoring capital projects and spending to limit rate increases, prioritize infrastructure upgrades to prevent system failures, and ensure climate recovery efforts remain cost-effective while balancing carbon reduction targets.