Grant PUD proposes raise in 2015 rates

EPHRATA - Grant County PUD rates will increase by 2.4 percent for residential customers, and 3.5 percent for irrigators. Large industrial customers (rate class 15) will get a five-tenths of 1 percent rate increase. The 2015 rate proposal was reviewed, and was the subject of a lively debate, at the regular meeting of the PUD commissioners Tuesday.

The proposed rate structure will be approved at the Nov. 11 commission meeting.

Rates for commercial customers will increase by 3 percent, and smaller industrial customers (rate class 14) will see an increase of 3.5 percent. The rates for large general customers will increase by 2 percent. Agricultural food producers will receive a 2.5 percent increase. The rates for streetlight customers will increase by five-tenths of 1 percent.

Adding it all together, the increases will produce 2 percent additional revenue, which was the goal set during the budget analysis.

Jeremy Nolan, PUD financial analyst, said the proposed rates fit within the policy approved by commissioners in 2013. That required rates to be more closely tied to the actual cost of providing services to customers.

The policy sets a target date of 2023 to achieve more parity between rate classes. It stipulates customer classes must pay at least 80 percent of the cost of providing their electricity, and can't pay more than 15 percent over the cost of service.

Commissioner Bob Bernd asked about changing the irrigation rate to 3 percent and the large industrial rate to 1 percent. Bernd said he supports the idea of all classes being within the target band, and that irrigation customers need to catch up, but he thought 3.5 percent was a pretty big increase.

Commissioner Tom Flint said he agreed with that, and that the target date of 2023 was too aggressive. Commissioner Dale Walker said he thought a 1 percent increase should be the minimum.

But commissioner Larry Schaapman objected, saying the proposed rates fit within the target, and the PUD would be back to the problem it was trying to fix if commissioners tweaked them now. Commissioner Terry Brewer said in his opinion the underlying issue was about the rate structure policy. The commission could review the rate policy, Brewer said, but in his opinion that should come later.

General manager Tony Webb said the PUD staff already planned to review the rate policy. Financial director Bonnie Overfield said that review should be completed by March 2015.

In other business, the board heard a proposal to levy a charge for campers using the PUD campgrounds.

The PUD will charge $10 per day for the Jackson Creek and Rocky Coulee campgrounds, and $15 per day for the Priest Rapids Recreation Area and the new Sand Hollow campground. (Sand Hollow should be completed by Memorial Day 2015, said Shannon Lowry, the PUD's land and recreation manager.)

Lowry said a fee would help recover some of the cost of managing and maintaining the campgrounds. The PUD will manage the campgrounds in 2015, but if it's decided to contract those services, charging a fee now will ease some of the shock of fees charged by outside management, Lowry said.