Grant PUD commissioners decline to pursue rate cut

EPHRATA — Grant County PUD commissioners have declined to pursue a proposal to cut rates for some PUD customers for six months. The decision came after an hour-long discussion at the regular commission meeting Tuesday.

The idea originally was proposed by commissioner Dale Walker and would have required PUD staff to come up with a plan for implementation. Walker made his proposal in the form of a motion. No second was made, so the motion died without a vote.

Walker had proposed a temporary 4 percent rate cut for residential, irrigation and some business customers at the May 26 commission meeting. It would have been in effect from July through December 2020. The cut would have gone to classes designated as core customers.

Walker said it seemed to him like the right thing to do, given the impact of the statewide shutdown imposed in the state’s response to the coronavirus. Many electricity customers in those classes sustained financial losses, Walker said, and in his opinion the PUD should do something to help them.

“I think it would be wise for us to do this,” he said.

Commissioner Larry Schaapman said he thought some of the benefits would go to businesses that didn’t need it, like national retail chains. He respected the reasoning behind Walker’s proposal, he said, but thought that Walker’s formulation provided benefits to people who didn’t need them.

“I think this (proposal) reaches way too far,” Schaapman said.

He said the PUD already has programs to help people who are having trouble making their payments and that the PUD should try to make use of existing options.

Walker agreed that it would benefit some people who didn’t need it. Schaapman said a 4 percent rate cut wouldn’t provide a lot of benefit to individual customers, and Walker said he agreed with that too. But even if it wasn’t much, it was something the PUD could do, and in his opinion the PUD should do it, Walker added.

Commissioner Tom Flint said there are other programs to help people, and a temporary rate cut seemed like more of a gesture. Commissioner Judy Wilson said she was willing to support it but that Schaapman’s arguments made her rethink her position. She too was concerned about giving benefits to large companies, she said.

Chief financial officer Jeff Bishop said the credit agencies that evaluate the PUD’s bond issues might look unfavorably on a rate cut, and Wilson said that also played a role in her decision.

Commissioner Nelson Cox said he was initially in favor but changed his mind. He asked if the PUD had other options, suggesting a possible deferral of any rate increases in 2021.

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