Retirement Announcement and Employee Movement

As most of you know, Dale Knutson announced his retirement a few years ago but as we get closer to the actual date, we wanted to recognize his distinguished career with Mason PUD 3 and announce the plans following his retirement. Dale’s last day with the District will be July 30th. Dale was hired at the PUD in December of 2000 as a Telecommunications Engineer and in 2002 became the Telecommunications Manager where he continued to serve until filling his current position of Director of Engineering and Utility Services in 2016. Dale is responsible for the foundation of the PUD’s fiber optic network and connecting many of the District’s facilities which saves customers millions of dollars each year by preventing the PUD from having to buy similar services from an outside vendor. He has played a part in several strategic initiatives, from the construction of the Johns Prairie Operations Center to the Grid Modernization Project, and the radio upgrades. Dales leadership has not only helped the PUD locally, but also at the state level by building relationships and testifying at committee hearings. He was also one of the key contributors to the formation of NoaNet (Northwest Open Access Network) which is a statewide broadband network made up of participating PUDs. We are very grateful for the years of leadership and strategic vision that Dale has brought to the PUD and our customers will reap the benefit of his contributions for years to come. We want to congratulate Dale on his retirement and suspect that he and his wife Kelly will have plenty of DIY projects and travel in their future as Kelly recently retired as well. Best wishes Dale!

Following Dales retirement, Annette has selected Justin Holzgrove to serve as the next Director of Engineering and Utility Services. Justin will oversee the Engineering, IS, Conservation departments and will continue to directly manage the Telecommunications department. The Power Supply department will now report directly to the manager.