diff --git a/.github/workflows/build-deploy-pudl.yml b/.github/workflows/build-deploy-pudl.yml
index e6a6ab38c2..b1b35d0e56 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/build-deploy-pudl.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/build-deploy-pudl.yml
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ env:
   GITHUB_REF: ${{ github.ref_name }} # This is changed to dev if running on a schedule
   GCE_INSTANCE: pudl-deployment-tag # This is changed to pudl-deployment-dev if running on a schedule
   GCE_INSTANCE_ZONE: ${{ secrets.GCE_INSTANCE_ZONE }}
+  GCS_OUTPUT_BUCKET: gs://nightly-build-outputs.catalyst.coop
 
 jobs:
   build_and_deploy_pudl:
@@ -34,6 +35,7 @@ jobs:
       - name: Get HEAD of the branch (main or dev)
         run: |
           echo "ACTION_SHA=$(git rev-parse HEAD)" >> $GITHUB_ENV
+          echo "SHORT_SHA=$(git rev-parse --short HEAD)" >> $GITHUB_ENV
 
       - name: Print action vars
         run: |
@@ -83,6 +85,11 @@ jobs:
       - name: Set up Cloud SDK
         uses: google-github-actions/setup-gcloud@v1
 
+      - name: Determine commit information
+        run: |-
+          echo "COMMIT_BRANCH=$(gitrev-parse --abbrev-ref HEAD)" >> $GITHUB_ENV
+          echo "COMMIT_TIME=$(git log -1 --format=%cd --date=format:%Y-%m-%d-%H%M)" >> $GITHUB_ENV
+
       # Deploy PUDL image to GCE
       - name: Deploy
         env:
@@ -119,6 +126,7 @@ jobs:
             --container-env DAGSTER_PG_DB="dagster-storage" \
             --container-env FLY_ACCESS_TOKEN=${{ secrets.FLY_ACCESS_TOKEN }} \
             --container-env PUDL_SETTINGS_YML="/home/mambauser/src/pudl/package_data/settings/etl_full.yml" \
+            --container-env PUDL_GCS_OUTPUT=${{ env.GCS_OUTPUT_BUCKET }}/${{ env.COMMIT_TIME }}-${{ env.SHORT_SHA }}-${{ env.COMMIT_BRANCH }}
 
       # Start the VM
       - name: Start the deploy-pudl-vm
@@ -129,6 +137,6 @@ jobs:
         uses: slackapi/slack-github-action@v1.24.0
         with:
           channel-id: "C03FHB9N0PQ"
-          slack-message: "build-deploy-pudl status: ${{ job.status }}\n${{ env.ACTION_SHA }}-${{ env.GITHUB_REF }}"
+          slack-message: "build-deploy-pudl status: ${{ job.status }}\n${{ env.COMMIT_TIME}}-${{ env.SHORT_SHA }}-${{ env.COMMIT_BRANCH }}"
         env:
           SLACK_BOT_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.PUDL_DEPLOY_SLACK_TOKEN }}
diff --git a/docker/gcp_pudl_etl.sh b/docker/gcp_pudl_etl.sh
index 84e46b4b24..8364a47a5a 100644
--- a/docker/gcp_pudl_etl.sh
+++ b/docker/gcp_pudl_etl.sh
@@ -2,6 +2,9 @@
 # This script runs the entire ETL and validation tests in a docker container on a Google Compute Engine instance.
 # This script won't work locally because it needs adequate GCP permissions.
 
+# Set PUDL_GCS_OUTPUT *only* if it is currently unset
+: "${PUDL_GCS_OUTPUT:=gs://nightly-build-outputs.catalyst.coop/$ACTION_SHA-$GITHUB_REF}"
+
 set -x
 
 function send_slack_msg() {
@@ -27,26 +30,26 @@ function run_pudl_etl() {
         --loglevel DEBUG \
         --gcs-cache-path gs://internal-zenodo-cache.catalyst.coop \
         --workers 8 \
-        $PUDL_SETTINGS_YML && \
-    pudl_etl \
+        $PUDL_SETTINGS_YML \
+    && pudl_etl \
         --loglevel DEBUG \
         --gcs-cache-path gs://internal-zenodo-cache.catalyst.coop \
-        $PUDL_SETTINGS_YML && \
-    pytest \
+        $PUDL_SETTINGS_YML \
+    && pytest \
         -n auto \
         --gcs-cache-path gs://internal-zenodo-cache.catalyst.coop \
         --etl-settings $PUDL_SETTINGS_YML \
-        --live-dbs test/integration test/unit && \
-    pytest \
+        --live-dbs test/integration test/unit \
+    && pytest \
         -n auto \
         --gcs-cache-path gs://internal-zenodo-cache.catalyst.coop \
         --etl-settings $PUDL_SETTINGS_YML \
         --live-dbs test/validate
+    && touch ${PUDL_OUTPUT}/success
 }
 
 function shutdown_vm() {
     # Copy the outputs to the GCS bucket
-    gsutil -m cp -r $PUDL_OUTPUT "gs://nightly-build-outputs.catalyst.coop/$ACTION_SHA-$GITHUB_REF"
 
     upload_file_to_slack $LOGFILE "pudl_etl logs for $ACTION_SHA-$GITHUB_REF:"
 
@@ -59,6 +62,12 @@ function shutdown_vm() {
     curl -X POST -H "Content-Length: 0" -H "Authorization: Bearer ${ACCESS_TOKEN}" https://compute.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/catalyst-cooperative-pudl/zones/$GCE_INSTANCE_ZONE/instances/$GCE_INSTANCE/stop
 }
 
+function copy_outputs_to_gcs() {
+    echo "Copying outputs to GCP bucket $PUDL_GCS_OUTPUT"
+    gsutil -m cp -r $PUDL_OUTPUT ${PUDL_GCS_OUTPUT}
+    rm ${PUDL_OUTPUT}/success
+}
+
 function copy_outputs_to_distribution_bucket() {
     echo "Copying outputs to GCP distribution bucket"
     gsutil -m -u $GCP_BILLING_PROJECT cp -r "$PUDL_OUTPUT/*" "gs://pudl.catalyst.coop/$GITHUB_REF"
@@ -93,6 +102,8 @@ run_pudl_etl 2>&1 | tee $LOGFILE
 
 ETL_SUCCESS=${PIPESTATUS[0]}
 
+copy_outputs_to_gcs
+
 # if pipeline is successful, distribute + publish datasette
 if [[ $ETL_SUCCESS == 0 ]]; then
     # Deploy the updated data to datasette
@@ -109,6 +120,9 @@ if [[ $ETL_SUCCESS == 0 ]]; then
     ETL_SUCCESS=${PIPESTATUS[0]}
 
     # Dump outputs to s3 bucket if branch is dev or build was triggered by a tag
+    # TODO: this behavior should be controlled by on/off switch here and this logic
+    # should be moved to the triggering github action. Having it here feels
+    # fragmented.
     if [ $GITHUB_ACTION_TRIGGER = "push" ] || [ $GITHUB_REF = "dev" ]; then
         copy_outputs_to_distribution_bucket
         ETL_SUCCESS=${PIPESTATUS[0]}