Rate cost workshop last week of August

EPHRATA - The results of a "cost of service" study will be presented to the Grant County PUD commissioners at their regular meeting Aug. 26, and then to PUD customers on a date still to be determined.

Chief Financial Officer Kevin Nordt said the public meeting is tentatively scheduled for the last week of August, but there's no firm date yet. Nordt delivered an update on the study at the Tuesday commission meeting.

The information obtained through the study will serve as the basis of future rate structures, according to a discussion at the July 22 commission meeting.

District commissioners voted last year to adjust the rate structure so that no class of customer paid more than 20 percent less or 15 percent more than the actual cost of providing their electricity. They commissioned the study to determine those costs.

The PUD has sponsored two workshops for customers detailing the findings from the study, Nordt said, attended mostly by commercial and industrial customers. Nordt said the PUD has done similar studies in the past, and so far there are no surprises in the results.

The idea behind the workshops is to make the rate-setting process as transparent as possible, Nordt said. Customers may or may not agree with the outcome, but they will know how the PUD arrived at the conclusions.

In answer to a question from commissioner Bob Bernd, Nordt said there haven't been many negative comments so far.

In other business, Bonnie Overfield of the PUD accounting office, provided information on the 2015 budget.

The draft budget must be filed for public review by Sept. 1, Overfield said. Public hearings on the budget are scheduled for Oct. 14 in Ephrata and Quincy and Oct. 16 in Moses Lake.

The total budget is $222.6 million, Overfield said. Net power sales for 2015 were projected to be $65.7 million, she said.

That's a substantial increase over 2014, where net power sales are projected to be $33.4 million. That's a reflection of the reduced power generation at Wanapum Dam, Overfield said.

Utility district officials discovered a crack in the base of the one of the spillway supports at Wanapum Dam in late February. The water behind the dam had to be lowered as a result, which led to reduced power generation, and thus power sales and power sales revenue.

Bernd asked if the projections for 2015 are based on the assumption that Wanapum Dam will be fixed by the end of 2014. Overfield said they are, with the assumption that the water level, and with it power generation, would be back to historically normal levels by Jan. 1.