GC PUD sets date for rate schedule

Preliminary rate for industrial users to be announced Aug. 30

EPHRATA — The Grant County Public Utility District's staff will reveal a preliminary rate schedule for industrial users at the next scheduled rates workshop on Aug. 30.

The district held another in a series of rate and policy workshops Tuesday at the PUD headquarters in Ephrata. PUD staff, including senior financial analyst Jim Bunch, presented the board of commissioners with the current policy issues and choices that will have to be made in the near term before action is taken on those industrial rates.

PUD Commissioner Bill Bjork said that getting a proposal on the table for industrial rates by Oct. 1 would be important to give industrial ratepayers an opportunity to comment before new power sales contracts take effect on Nov.1.

"We need to make sure we have something in place by then," Bjork said.

At the same time, the PUD doesn't want to negatively impact existing rate class customers in the design of those new rates.

The district staff is working to design rates that are revenue neutral for next year. To maintain revenue neutral status, the staff will have to satisfy the projected revenue requirements assuring that money charged for rates is equal to the cost of doing business.

Treasurer-Controller Nick Gerde said the district staff is always looking at the cost of service when determining rates, because that is the most objective way to determine what each rate class should be paying.

PUD General Manager Tim Culbertson cautioned against actually lowering rates in 2006 based on forecasts that may change. He said that industrial users are more concerned with rate stability, which will be the focus of the current rate design.

"A financial forecast has a lot of assumptions built into it that we don't have a lot of control over," Culbertson said. "But with the new power sales contracts, we appear, on paper, at this point in time, to be in better shape, but that's based on water assumptions."

In previous rate workshops, the PUD staff and board of commissioners have reviewed the history of rates, examined the cost of service process and studied load forecasts and revenue requirements.

The Aug. 30 meeting will be at 9 a.m. at the PUD headquarters in Ephrata and Bjork said the commissioners will plan more rate meetings if necessary.