PUD holds hearings on 2005 budget

District plans to add 60 employees next year

MOSES LAKE — The Grant County Public is not planning on increasing rates in the next year, but it is planning on increasing its in-house work force.

The PUD started a series of six public meetings on Tuesday, presenting its budget plan for 2005. Tuesday evening's meeting attracted about 20 people, many of whom were PUD employees, to the PUD's Moses Lake office. About 12 members of the public attended a similar meeting Tuesday afternoon.

The most significant change in the proposed budget is an increase in 74 full-time employees with an increase overall of 60 employees.

PUD Commission President Tom Flint said the PUD is going through a shift with the number of people it is hiring, and is reducing its use of consultants and temporary employees. Flint added that the change in employee staffing will make the district better by employing more local workers.

PUD Assistant General Manager Laura Lyon said the district is also looking at an aging work force. She said a large portion of the district's work force will be able to retire in the next five years.

"We've got an awful lot of apprentices in the apprenticeship program," Lyon said.

PUD General Manager Tim Culbertson said the district is also looking at relicensing of the Priest Rapids Project. The project, which includes both the Priest Rapids and Wanapum Dams is licensed by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and that license is set to expire in 2005.

Culbertson said the district still has to conduct an environmental impact statement and a few other items in order to get that relicensing.

Lyon presented many of the changes Tuesday, and explained that the most significant changes are happening at the Wanapum Dam, which has to do with the district's new advanced turbine shafts. The project will replace each of the 10 turbines at the dam over the next decade. Lyon said this new

turbine is the most expensive of the ten. The project began as capital expenditure in the 2004 budget. Lyon said the first turbine work is the most expensive, due to engineering and other costs.

"We've not done anything of this magnitude since the project was first built," Lyon said of the dam.

Lyon said the turbine should be installed and ready for the 2005 spring salmon migration.

Lyon also said that a significant jump from approximately $11 million to $15 million in the power cost at Wanapum can be attributed to debt service. Lyon said a sizable borrowing at Wanapum will occur at the beginning of 2005.

Another change is the percentage of power drawn by the Grant PUD by the Priest Rapids dam. Lyon said that on Nov. 1 of next year, new power subcontracts go into effect, which increases the PUD's percentage of the dam from 36.5 percent to 40.2 percent.

A similar power contract is in the works at the Wanapum dam, however Lyon said the percentage usage by Grant PUD won't change from 36.5 percent until 2009.

The total power cost for the district's electric system is likely the most significant expenditure with a total of approximately $110.1 million , which is actually down from the $116.7 million allocated in the 2004 budget.

The complete budget for the district's electric system, which includes operation and maintenance as well as debt services, is expected at $161.3 million which is up from the $149.7 million in the 2004 budget, but Lyon said the total electric system budget is returning to a more normal level and said the electrical system jump has been an anticipated one.

The district is seeing a retail revenue jump from $91.8 million to $94.1, which Lyon said could be attributed to new subscribers on the electric system. Lyon said about 6,500 new subscribers have joined added the PUD system in the last 10 years.

"We need to make sure we keep the strength and viability of the PUD strong," Lyon said, "not just for next year, but for many years to come."

With the district's telecommunications program, Lyon said the district will continue a modest building rate in 2005. The operation and maintenance budget for the telecommunication budget is down from $5.2 million to $4.8 million. Lyon said the district is going to be doing some belt tightening, and looking at how they do business.

The PUD will hold four more meetings around Grant County to discuss the district's proposed budget. The next meeting is at the Ephrata headquarters at 3 p.m. Monday.

A budget is required to be adopted by the end of December.