Reader disagrees with industrial contracts

Well it's happened, large industrial power customers will start receiving power contracts. At Mondays PUD meeting Commissioners Brewer, Bernd and Walker voted to allow REC to receive unlimited power and use multiple meters for 20 years into the future. To their credit Commissioners Allred and Flint voted against this power pig out. This opens the door for all large industrial customers in this rate class to receive the same. This irresponsible action will greatly effect power rates for residential and farm customers in the future. Aside from the fact that Grant PUD is out of physical power from its project they will now have to build expensive infrastructure to accommodate the increasing power demands as a result of this vote. The other rate classes will help pay for this increased cost. Much more market power will have to be purchased as a result. Multiple meters will have the effect of reducing the power bill for these industrial customers by placing them in a lower rate tier further reducing revenue from the industrials.

All the discussion on industrial contracts has taken place out of the public eye. No news release, hearings or newspaper articles have alerted the public of this development, like it was passed in the middle of the night so nobody would notice. This is reprehensible and should be remembered at next years PUD election.

Greg Hansen

Moses Lake