Grand River Dam Authority

The Grand River Dam Authority (GRDA) is Oklahoma's largest public power electric utility. Established in 1935, it generates and transmits electricity and manages water resources across the Grand River watershed. The agency operates as a self-funding state conservation and reclamation entity: it is financed through the sale of electricity and water and receives no tax revenue from the state. Headquarters are in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and its electric transmission footprint spans a four-state region. A seven-member board of directors provides governance.

GRDA's technical work spans several domains, including hydroelectric power generation - its original business, carried out at three hydroelectric facilities on the Grand River system - alongside fossil fuel (gas and coal) generation, renewable and wind energy, electric transmission, and water resource management. The most recent major asset is Grand River Energy Center Unit 4, a $525m generation unit completed as a substantial investment in Oklahoma's energy infrastructure. The agency also manages over 70,000 surface acres of lake waters, including Grand Lake and Lake Hudson, and stewards the scenic Illinois River, having absorbed the mission of the Oklahoma Scenic Rivers Commission in July 2016.

GRDA describes its mission through five elements - Electricity, Efficiency, Environmental Stewardship, Economic Development and Employees - and states an ambition to be an Oklahoma Agency of Excellence. The organisation has grown from a small hydroelectric producer into the state's largest public power utility, and its stated culture combines self-funding commercial operations with stewardship of natural resources and work across the utility, water management, environmental conservation and economic development sectors.