Grant PUD commissioners approve new rate policy
After a year of discussion Grant County PUD commissioners approved a revised policy governing rates. The rate policies and rates themselves are determined by what is needed to keep the PUD operating its facilities such as the multiple dams it runs.
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EPHRATA — After extensive discussion, multiple community and customer meetings and analysis of different proposals, Grant County Public Utility District commissioners adopted a new rate policy Dec. 10.
The new policy replaces one originally approved in 2015 and modified in 2023. It establishes three criteria to guide commissioners in setting rates.
What PUD officials call “core customers” will be first in line for the economic benefits from utility district power. Core customers include residential, irrigation and agriculture and businesses that use less than 500 kilowatts of electricity, called general service.
The PUD owns and operates Wanapum and Priest Rapids dams. Power from the two dams, called the Priest Rapids Project, is cheaper as a result. The core customers will get the “largest revenue-cost benefit” among customer classes. Core customers also will be first in line for the economic benefits of any future generation sources owned or contracted by the PUD.
Under the revised policy residential and irrigation customers, along with a new rate category for general agriculture customers, will get the largest revenue benefit among the core customers.
The revised policy allows the PUD to use what officials called alternative rate recovery mechanisms to set rates. In an earlier interview, Chief Customer Office Ty Ehrman said that could mean customers signing individual contracts with the PUD.
One of the criteria established in the revised policy allows commissioners to take “societal goals and policies” into account when setting rates. Commission Chair Tom Flint said he considers that an extra layer of protection for core customers.
“It’s more of a return on investment” for the customer classes that built and supported the PUD, Flint said.
Non-core customers, which include the industrial and large industrial classes, were eligible to receive up a specified amount of Priest Rapids Project power, which was called preferential access. That provision was removed, although non-core customers can receive PRP electricity not being used by core customers.
Rates will be reviewed every two years. Any rate analysis will use information on costs and usage specific to Grant County.
“(The revised policy) maintains the commission’s longstanding policy of implementing rate level changes in small and predictable increases in any given year,” wrote Julio Aguirre program manager for rates and pricing, in a memo to commissioners.
Previous rate policy established guidelines, with customers paying a maximum and minimum above or below the actual cost of providing service. The revised policy keeps minimums and maximums but changes the guidelines.
Rate increases are determined by the amount of projected income the PUD needs to stay in operation. The minimum rate increase would be at least 5% of the average; the maximum would be two times the average increase.
Demand for PUD power has increased to the point where the utility will use up its allocation of electricity from the Priest Rapids Project before the end of the decade. When that happens utility district officials will be forced to find other – and probably more expensive – sources of electricity to meet the demand.
With that in mind, the policy allows commissioners to take that into consideration when setting rates for different classes and customers.
The policy stipulates that the PUD can establish a limit on the amount of power provided to non-core customers. If that happens and the customer still needs the power, the PUD can establish rates that recover the money spent to provide any power in excess of the cap.
“The rate classes that drive the growth pay for the growth,” wrote Christine Pratt, PUD public information officer.