Grant PUD commissioners to consider Reclamation contract

EPHRATA — Grant County PUD commissioners will consider a new contract to transmit electricity to three irrigation districts next month, possibly as early as its June 13 meeting. The new contract will include charges for transmission services, which will cost the districts about $1 million per year.

The expiring contract is a “transfer agreement” between the PUD and Bureau of Reclamation. It was part of a larger agreement dating to 1976, when the PUD bought some electrical lines from the Bonneville Power Administration. As part of that sale, said Rod Noteboom of the PUD, the utility agreed to transmit electricity for free for some irrigation district operations. The districts had to pay somebody for the power, either BPA or another supplier, but didn’t have to pay for transmission until the contract expired in July 2017.

The Bureau of Reclamation asked for a delay in the process of implementation, but PUD officials said they plan to submit the contract for signature by the end of June. Dave Churchman, senior manager for the wholesale power supply, said PUD officials would be willing to review the details with personnel and consultants from the irrigation districts after the contract was signed, and make adjustments, if any, at that time.

Following a request from the irrigation districts, implementation of the new charges will be delayed until January 2018.

Churchman said the irrigation district managers had asked that implementation be phased in over a four-year period, but that’s being reconsidered. If the irrigation districts have suggestions for implementation, PUD officials are asking for them in writing, Churchman said.

The proposed contract would be for 10 years, Noteboom said. That’s longer than PUD officials normally recommend, he said, because it’s difficult to project capital costs over a 10-year period. But that’s the best way to allow the rates to be phased in, he said.

The cost estimates were developed using the same method the PUD uses to calculate other costs, its “cost of service” analysis. The COSA was implemented in 2015. Since the PUD is recovering all the costs associated with transmitting the electricity, the phased-in rates would be higher at the end of the contract, Noteboom said.

In answer to a question from commissioner Bob Bernd. Noteboom said the contract could be shorter if the phase-in is eliminated.

Cheryl Schweizer can be reached via email at education@columbiabasinherald.com.