Patti Paris for GCPUD Commissioner

Patti Paris is running for GCPUD Commissioner and she understands that reliable service, low prices, and stable rates are important to customers. However, low/stable prices will be jeopardized if GCPUD Commissioners decide to pay off the large capital debts quickly. Patti doesn’t support the “quick payoff policy” but her opponent does.

Her opponent also claims irrigation rates ($.045/kilowatt) are too high because they pay a penny more per kilowatt than industrial customers (~$.035/kW). That cost is based on a fundamental concept called “economies of scale.” For example, it costs twice as much to deliver 10-megawatt electricity to hundreds of homes and irrigators than to deliver the same 10 MW to one factory. GCPUD actually loses money delivering power to residential customers (-$.015/kW) and irrigators (—$.O13/kW) since they pay less than the Cost of Service Analysis (COSA).

On the other hand, industrial customers subsidize those loses by paying $.025/kW, or $0.01/kW above their COSA, which keeps the GCPUD financially solvent. Patti is running for GCPUD Commissioner because she is uniquely qualified for this position. She worked at the PUD for 10 years and later became the CFO at Columbia Colstor for 15 years. She understands that agriculture is the financial backbone of our local economy and also appreciates the other industries that bring diversity to our local economy.

The current PUD debt is a result of Federal Energy Regulatory Commission licensing requirements involving new fish hatcheries, parks, boat launches, et cetera. Other costly projects included replacement of worn-out turbines/generators and maintaining a reserve fund to deal with emergencies such as a broken dam and “low water mitigation. Paying these debts off quickly sounds like a good idea, as her opponent proposes, but that doesn’t provide low stable rates, which customers want.

Patti has a good understanding of large businesses such as the GCPUD and how to balance budgets and establish fair rates for all customers. She is the best candidate for this position. Please vote for Patti.

Gary Ash

Moses Lake