Grant PUD commissioners approve 2021 budget

EPHRATA — Grant County PUD customers will pay the same for electricity in 2021 they’re paying in 2020. Utility district commissioners unanimously approved a 2021 budget Nov. 24 that did not include billing increases for any customers.

Residential customers, for example, will continue to pay about 4.5 cents per kilowatt hour and a basic charge of 55 cents per day. Public affairs officer Christine Pratt said it’s the third consecutive year electrical bills remain unchanged.

Projected expenses for 2021 are $380.6 million. Pratt said the budget includes projects ranging from a new substation near Royal City to expansion of the PUD’s fiber optic network. The Red Rock transmission line near Royal City is in the budget, along with stabilization work on the left bank at Priest Rapids Dam and the right bank at Wanapum Dam.

The PUD will continue a two-decade-long project to upgrade all turbines and generators at Priest Rapids and Wanapum dams. Other projects are additional transmission capacity at Mountain View substation near Quincy and substation work at Baird Springs and the old Burke townsite.

District financial analyst John Mertlich said the budget includes a projection of about 4.1% growth in customer demand annually through 2030. That’s lower than earlier projections.

Mertlich said it’s a reflection of updated budget forecasting methods, as well as slower than anticipated growth for large industrial customers. It also shows the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak and reduced demand from cryptocurrency customers.

Pratt said power production, the costs associated with producing electricity, account for about 39% of total budgeted expenses. Power delivery, maintaining and building the lines and substations that deliver electricity, account for about 22% of expenses.