Ephrata council talks about the PUD

EPHRATA — The Ephrata City Council held Wednesday's meeting at SplashZone, and received a report from Grant County Public Utility District representatives on major issues facing the utility.

Michael Woywod, PUD assistant general manager, said while the county is experiencing high residential and industrial growth, the utility is making electric system upgrades.

PUD Commissioners Bob Bernd and Tom Flint also attended the council meeting.

Woywod estimated the city of Ephrata is going to see residential growth of 900 people in the next two to three years.

The PUD is working on three substation projects in 2007, in the north and west sections of Quincy for Yahoo! Inc. and Microsoft Corp., and in Moses Lake for REC Silicon.

Substation projects are also planned for next year, including one in Warden for a biodiesel operation. And projects in Ephrata and Royal City are planned to meet electric system growth requirements.

Improvements are being made at Priest Rapids and Wanapum dams, Woywod said.

The PUD has almost completed replacement of a third turbine at Wanapum Dam. The new turbines have a 3 percent efficiency gain and 14 percent gain in power generation. Generator upgrades are planned at the dam.

Turbines at Priest Rapids Dam are also scheduled for replacement, he said.

A fish bypass is being built at Wanapum Dam. It's a $30 million project to help migrant fish, expected to be complete in December.

Dorothy Harris, PUD spokesperson, told the Columbia Basin Herald an estimated 30 percent of every ratepayer's bill is the result of fisheries protection.

The PUD is still waiting on a new license to operate the Priest Rapids Hydroelectric Project.

"We're pretty darn close," Woywod told the council. "We hope that it will be this year."

The PUD is waiting for a salmon and steelhead biological opinion, the final piece needed before the order to issue a license would be handed down by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

Woywod touted the recent signing of a settlement agreement with the Yakama Nation.

He said there are some pros and cons to the settlement, which ended some litigation between the PUD and Yakamas on power allocation and resolves remaining fish and wildlife issues.

"We feel very positive about it," he said.

Acknowledging the previous strained relations between the Yakamas and the PUD, Flint said the settlement enables the two sides to "bury the hatchet."

The settlement also lays out a process for joint development of new generating resources between the Yakamas and the PUD.

Mayor Chris Jacobson asked about the competing demands placed on the dams, including spill for fish. He wanted to know how those demands would be managed to limit any impact on the county's future growth.

Jacobson was told that in addition to the new generating resources afforded by the settlement with the Yakamas and turbine upgrades at the dams, the PUD is constantly reviewing its management of fish to operate the project as efficiently as possible.

The council was told the PUD commissioners initiated a cost of service analysis.

"It's a very key event for us," Woywod said.

The study helps define the PUD's financial forecast and sets framework for potential, future rate-design policy. The study is scheduled to be complete by Oct. 1. The last study was conducted in 1997.

Woywod discussed the PUD's changes in policy concerning the fiber-optic network.

Last month, the PUD commissioners approved build out of the network in Moses Lake and Quincy for this year. The work is to be completed with existing inventory and contract labor.

"We plan to use what (existing inventory) we have, and use it in areas that make sense," he said.

Most of Ephrata, the council was told, is already connected to the network. The Port of Ephrata, airport and incorporated neighborhoods south of the city are not connected.

As of Dec. 31, expenses for telecommunications activities total $110 million. The activities include capital expenditures, inventory, operations and maintenance. The PUD has received $9 million in revenue from the beginning of the network project through Dec. 31.

Nearly 4,400 users currently subscribe to services from the existing group of retail service providers.

The network is available to more than 10,500 homes within Grant County, out of approximately 40,000.

Representatives from the PUD plan to make similar presentations to the Moses Lake City Council on June 26 and the Royal City Council on July 17.