Grant PUD to talk rate increases, initiatives

EPHRATA — Grant County PUD commissioners and staff will take questions from the public about next year’s proposed electrical rate increase and utility initiatives during three public meetings this month.

There is currently a rate increase included within the utility’s draft budget, but no amount listed.

The utility will discuss how it carries out its planning, turbine and generator work, energy, new resources, a new transmission line from Quincy to Rocky Ford station and how Initiative 937 fits into planning for new resources, said Sarah Morford, a utility spokesperson, on Thursday.

All meetings last from 6 p.m. until 8 p.m. The public will have the opportunity to ask commissioners and staff questions, she said.

“The intent is to give an overview of what’s going on in the district,” she says. “We want this to be an open dialogue.”

The utility also wants to learn about what’s on peoples’ minds, she said.

The first meeting is Oct. 12, at the Moses Lake Fire Hall, 701 E. Third Ave., Moses Lake.

Commissioners travel to Grand Coulee for an Oct. 20 meeting at Center Elementary School, 317 Spokane Way, Grand Coulee.

The final meeting is Oct. 27 in Quincy, at the Quincy Senior Center, 522 F St. S.E., Quincy.

Morford said the PUD is trying to hold similar meetings at least once a year.

“There’s so much going on at the utility,” she commented. “It’s just another opportunity for us to share what going on and to listen to see what’s of interest to the people.”