Grant County PUD talks growth

EPHRATA — An unusual – even unprecedented – level of requests for electrical hookups has prompted the Grant County PUD to start reassessing its approach to adding new customers and expanding the existing system. Utility district officials are also looking at rates for all customer classes.

General manager Kevin Nordt detailed the current situation in a presentation at a recent meeting of Grant County Port District No. 10, Moses Lake. “As of the beginning of January, Grant PUD has over 80 applications and inquiries for new services totaling more than 800 megawatts of power,” wrote Ryan Holterhoff, PUD public information officer. “This would more than double our current average load (total county-wide demand for power) of 590 average megawatts.”

One average megawatt provides power to the equivalent of about 450 homes in Grant County, Holterhoff said.

Of the requests, 17 are being processed currently, Nordt said. “The majority (but not all) of these requests for service are from companies involved in ‘blockchain’ or ‘cryptocurrency’ operations. These types of companies require high levels of energy to run their computing systems,” Holterhoff wrote.

A blockchain is a kind of digital accounting sheet. It can be shared by all the people or companies involved in a transaction, and it can be updated by anybody involved, at any time. Its proponents claim it’s less vulnerable to hacking and fraud.

But not all those inquiries are coming from potential cryptocurrency customers. Growth is coming, and in light of that, the PUD has to ensure customers have access to reliable and affordable power, Holterhoff said.

Nordt told port commissioners it takes six to 18 months to build new distribution equipment, 18 months to three years to upgrade substations, three to seven years (or longer) to build transmission lines, and up to five years to obtain new power supplies. In light all that, PUD officials are “working on a new customer application process and performing a study to ensure we are well-positioned to serve the continued growth in our county,” Holterhoff wrote. Officials are reviewing the existing system, along with a review of rates.

The review of rates is going beyond what PUD officials have done the last few years. “Next year I expect to bring you (the commissioners) something very different,” said Jeremy Nolan of the PUD’s accounting department at the Jan. 23 commission meeting. “We’ll start a lot earlier; it’ll probably take a lot longer.”

New customer inquiries are still being accepted, but anybody inquiring “will likely experience a delay as we determine how best to meet this demand,” Holterhoff wrote.

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