Grant PUD examining rate increase

EPHRATA — Rising costs for the Grant County PUD may lead to customer rate increases for 2023. Utility district commissioners asked for more information on costs and budget impacts before making a decision.

“I’m trying to get my hands around this inflation thing,” Commissioner Tom Flint said. “Obviously, we’re being faced with it, and it’s better to have a little cushion than no cushion based upon that. And I think people are understanding of it more so in today’s economy than they may have been in the past.”

Commissioners asked for an estimate of the budget impact of a 2% overall rate increase in 2023 during the regular meeting on Aug. 23. Rates have remained unchanged since 2019.

The PUD calculates rates based, in part, on the actual cost of delivering electricity to customers. As a result, any rate increase for a particular class of customers, residences and irrigators being examples, might be more than 2%, or less, depending on the actual cost of electrical service.

Commissioner Larry Schaapman said PUD officials are updating the district’s analysis of the costs to serve each rate class, and that too will play into a rate discussion.

Schaapman said a rate increase, if there is one, wouldn’t go into effect until April 2023, per utility district policy.

Flint said he would prefer small and steady rate increases if they are necessary.

“From my perspective, it’s always better to have consistent rate increases, rather than one or two big ones. To have smaller, predictable ones, and obviously the earlier you start that, the more you benefit district-wide,” Flint said.

Chief Financial Officer Bonnie Overfield said the PUD had deferred some rate increases in the past, and that had an effect when a rate increase was approved.

“We had to put six and eight percent increases to get caught up,” Overfield said.

Flint agreed that large increases were challenging.

“You don’t want to do that,” Flint said.

The discussion followed a presentation on the district’s current finances and how the economy might affect the PUD in the next few years.

Financial analyst John Mertlich said costs have risen substantially over the 2022 budget projections. The district has enough financial capacity to handle a couple years of higher costs, Mertlich said, but it doesn’t have enough to do that in the long term. In addition, PUD officials anticipate some big - and expensive - projects over the next couple of years, such as ongoing work on the riverbanks at both Wanapum and Priest Rapids Dam.

Cheryl Schweizer may be reached at cschweizer@columbiabasinherald.com.