Grant PUD expenses to increase in 2017

EPHRATA — The Grant County PUD will spend an estimated $313.4 million in 2017, according to preliminary budget estimates. Utility district employees reviewed the preliminary numbers with commissioners at the regular meeting Tuesday.

The commissioners will hold three public hearings on the budget in October, two meetings in Ephrata and one in Quincy. The Ephrata hearings are scheduled for 2 and 6 p.m. Oct. 11 at the commissioners hearing room, 30 C St. The Quincy hearing will be 6 p.m. Oct. 13 at the Quincy Community Center, 115 Southwest F St. Chuck Allen, PUD public information specialist, said utility district officials change the venues each year, to get out to different communities.

Accountant Bonnie Overfield said there’s an increase of $38.2 million in spending in 2017 when compared with 2016. Capital costs are projected to go up (about $26.3 million), and so is debt service ($3.5 million).

Some large industrial projects, where the customer pays upfront costs such as building the transmission substation, have been delayed or canceled, and revenue from those projects is expected to drop by $16 million when compared with 2016, Overfield said.

But the PUD’s customer base is still growing, so its share of the power generated by Wanapum and Priest Rapids dams is increasing. What that means is the PUD will get paid less, an estimated $7.6 million.

The first phase of a 10-year project to upgrade the turbines and generators at Priest Rapids starts in August. The cost for upgrading the turbines in 2017 is projected to be $23.1 million. Costs will drop to about $18 million for the following nine turbines. Generator upgrades will cost a projected $16.3 million in 2017.

Other projects slated for 2017 include recreation enhancements at Crescent Bar, about $14 million; generator upgrades at Wanapum Dam, about $16 million; about $7 million in riverbank improvements at Priest Rapids Dam and two new substations in Quincy, each about $5 million.

The PUD is currently studying the condition of the riverbank at Wanpum Dam, which may require additional work to stabilize it. That wasn’t included in the budget projections. Utility district accountants analyzed it, assuming a cost of $50 million in 2018, $100 million in 2019 and $50 million in 2020.

That doesn’t have an impact on the 2017 budget, Overfield said, but it would have a big impact on the five-year projection.