PUD commissioner announces run for new term

EPHRATA - Incumbent Grant County PUD commissioner Bob Bernd has announced he will run for a third four-year term.

Bernd said that originally he was considering retiring from the board. "I'm almost surprised to find myself doing it," he said of his decision to file for a new term. But Bernd said he thought he still had something to offer, given where the PUD is and what's going on at the utility.

Utility district officials announced Feb. 27 that a crack had been discovered in Wanapum Dam. Bernd said April 29 that PUD officials think they've determined the extent of the damage. What will happen after that is up to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and an independent panel of engineers contracted to oversee the response, he said.

The PUD's financial staff estimated the cost of repairs and lost revenues at $61 million at the April 22 board meeting, although they said that was subject to revision. Bernd said he thinks there might be some revision, and because of that it's difficult to know what the effect might be on electrical rates.

"I would have to be in the camp that says we don't know yet," he said.

In the wake of the dam repairs, Bernd said the commissioners will have to review expenditures, including capital projects. "Sitting down and re-prioritizing," he said. The PUD has a number of potential capital projects, including rebuilding and adding substations, adding transmission lines and extending the fiber network, he said.

Expanding the fiber network and providing affordable electricity to all customers have been issues he focused on during his two terms, Bernd said. They would continue to be important issues if he is re-elected, he said.

The PUD's goal is to hook up 80 percent of residences and 95 percent of businesses to the fiber network, he said, and that goal almost has been reached. Bernd said one of his goals is to expand the buildout into more rural locations.

"We struggle with how to do that in the most economical way possible," Bernd said. The PUD is experimenting with wireless delivery to rural locations, he said.

The PUD operates Wanapum and Priest Rapids dams, and the low cost electricity produced has made Grant County an attractive place for business. Bernd said rates in the future will depend on the kind of growth that occurs, and that the utility will have to find a balance between businesses that use a lot of energy and irrigators, small businesses and residential customers that use less.

Bernd said he's worked to ensure that lower-energy users will have access to lower rates, and he's proud of that commitment. He also supports a cost-of-service study that's currently underway, he said.

During his eight years he has worked to promote cooperation between PUD employees and the commissioners. When he was elected there was, he said, "a real reluctance to share openly and honestly with the commissioners." That relationship has improved, he said. "It's one reason I want to be a part of it (the PUD board)," he said.

The filing period for offices to be contested in the November general election is May 12.