Irrigation districts secure ruling from FERC, await action by PUD on rates
OTHELLO — Farmers served by the Quincy-Columbia Basin Irrigation District and the East Columbia Basin Irrigation District are set to absorb a 33% rate increase from Grant PUD for the wheeling of federal reserved power over its system next year, according to information from the two districts.
The term “wheeling” designates the use of utility conveyance facilities for other than the owner, in this case, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation for the benefit of the two irrigation districts.
The scheduled rate increase was delayed by Grant PUD commissioners while the irrigation districts agreed to seek formal guidance from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) regarding the utility’s ability to charge separate wheeling rates for the transmission and distribution of federal power from Grand Coulee Dam to help fuel the Bureau of Reclamation’s Columbia Basin Project, according to a press release from the districts.
On July 15, FERC issued a ruling confirming a separate rate class may be established by Grant PUD for the wheeling of federal reserved power over its system. In doing so, FERC recognized Grant PUD already charges a separate, unique rate for wheeling electricity from the federal system to the irrigation districts. There are no legal or regulatory constraints barring Grant PUD from continuing this practice, the districts stated.
FERC’s order clears the way for Grant PUD commissioners to withdraw the looming 33% rate increase and continue to charge an appropriate rate for delivering federal reserved power from Grand Coulee Dam to the Columbia Basin Project, the districts stated.
Reclamation and the districts met with commissioners during the PUD’s Aug. 24 meeting and requested they adopt their joint rate proposal, recognizing the unique history and circumstances surrounding the development of the Columbia Basin Project and the need for continued, affordable power to landowners within the project, the districts stated.
“We appreciate Grant PUD’s willingness to engage with Reclamation and the districts on this important issue. The FERC ruling clears the way for action by the commissioners. We are confident that they recognize the unique history and circumstances surrounding the Columbia Basin Project and are hopeful that they will exercise their discretion in favor of a separate wheeling rate for the federal power that has made agriculture so productive in our area over the past 70 years,” said Quincy-Columbia Basin Irrigation District Manager Roger Sonnichsen in a press release.
The Quincy-Columbia Basin Irrigation District irrigates more than 250,000 acres.
Located in central Washington state, the East Columbia Basin Irrigation District is the third-largest district in the state and serves 167,365 acres of irrigated cropland, managed by 4,500 landowners within the federal Columbia Basin Project. The district is involved in the development of an additional 87,000 acres associated with the Odessa Groundwater Replacement Program.