Bruce Ludington Retires with a Federal Columbia River Power System Hydro Hero Award

Written by: Kayla Griffin

From left to right is Roland Springer, area manager for the Snake River Area Office; Bruce Ludington, award recipient and facility manager at Palisades Dam and Powerplant; and Regional Director Lorri Lee of Pacific Northwest.Bruce Ludington, facility manager at Palisades Dam and Powerplant, is the 2016 top honor recipient of the Federal Columbia River Power System (FCRPS) Hydro Hero award. Ludington started working at Palisades Dam and Powerplant, located on the Snake River about 55 miles southeast of Idaho Falls, Idaho, in August 2000. During his time there he frequently volunteered the facility for new pilot programs, instituted apprentice programs, and mentored supervisors and journeyman from the region. Ludington’s efforts had lead him to be nominated and selected for the 2016 FCRPS “Best of the Best” awards.

Ludington had been instrumental with many tasks and under his leadership, Palisades Dam and Powerplant consistently remained the leader for instituting new guidelines and policies to ensure employees were adhering to all compliance regulations. Ludington received outstanding feedback from audits and reviews and for complying with regulations. Palisades Dam and Powerplant also received a “low cost power producer for similar size plants” award, and is a two-time recipient of the “Maintenance Excellence Award.”

Also within the past five years, Ludington’s guidance helped coordinate resources and staff during the Palisades Powerplant turbine rehabilitation and runner replacement project—creating an increase of overall power generation efficiency of more than three percent. Ludington likes to take on challenges and his track record shows it. At Palisades, he volunteered for many committees and jumped right in when Minidoka Dam and other Reclamation facilities needed support.

Reclamation appreciates its outstanding employees and is sad to hear that Ludington is retiring this month. The agency and its workers will truly miss him. When asked about retirement, Ludington said “I have mixed emotions. I am going to miss the job, but I am also looking forward to the next chapter in my life.”

One of Ludington’s final projects with Reclamation involves the renovation of the Palisades tug boat. Every major dam in the region has its own boat. These boats are the workhorses that help remove debris, move equipment and are used to set up buoys and booms. The Palisades boat had work done to it about ten years ago; however, within the last few years it has been in need of some exterior work. So, the staff decided it was time to sand blast off all the various colors of old paint and start fresh.

According to coworkers, fixing up the tug boat serves as a tribute to Ludington’s career with Reclamation. The team at Palisades is trying to finish the majority of the renovations before he retires, because Ludington appreciates boats and one of his passions is jet boating the rivers of the Pacific Northwest. He even describes himself as the “boat guy.”

“Working with Bruce is awesome,” Byrne said. “He is one of the best managers I have ever worked with. He was always watching out for us and making sure we had what we needed in order to get the job done.”

Just as the tug boat floats on to its next chapter, so does Bruce Ludington, friend, leader and valued employee.

Pictured is the Palisades' tug boat.

Published on December 21, 2016