Grant PUD hears concerns over proposed rate increases

EPHRATA – Grant County PUD officials heard concerns voiced over proposed power rate increases in 2026, and beyond, during a Dec. 9 public hearing.

PUD commissioners are considering rate hikes that would average 3.5% annually over the next decade for designated “core customers” -- that is, county residents, farmers and ag irrigators, small businesses, and other general service users. Their electrical rates are lower than the actual cost to provide service.

That is offset by larger industrial “non-core” customers – typically the utility district’s largest energy consumers – who pay above-cost rates and are responsible for rapidly increasing demands for PUD power. They could face averaged 9.5% annual rate increases through 2035.

As proposed, the actual increases could vary slightly each year within the dozen different rate classes designated by the district.

The PUD opened its public comment period last week and it continues through Dec. 23. Commissioners are expected to make a decision on any rate adjustments during their upcoming Jan. 27 meeting, with new rates taking effect on April 1, 2026.

The handful of individuals who spoke during the Dec. 9 hearing represented a cross-section of the various rate classes and most questioned or opposed the increases.

Longtime Ephrata resident Candy Erickson asked for consideration for retirees and the elderly on fixed incomes, saying, “They need help.” PUD staff noted that the district has several programs intended to help income-qualified customers lower their monthly bills.

John Courtright of Moses Lake operates Courtright Enterprises Inc., a major hay and forage processor with a growing international export trade. Courtright questioned why his ag-related business was moved from a core customer class to the higher non-core category, a move which he estimated will more than double his current monthly power bill in the coming decade.

"I appreciate our low rates we enjoy in Grant County, but this substantial," he told commissioners.

Chuck Sutton, also of Moses Lake, a vice president at REC Silicon and representative of the Grant County Industrial Alliance, said the GCIA was opposed to the non-core rate increase. He called it a “significant challenge for large (PUD) customers” that could slow local economic growth and reduce companies’ “competitive advantage” and workforce development. He called for an independent study on the proposal and future rate increases. 

Members of the local industrial consortium include Microsoft, Yahoo!, and Sabey data centers which operate at the Port of Quincy along with REC Silicon, Moses Lake Industries, and Sila. Such companies are major consumers of low-cost power produced by Grant PUD’s Wanapum and Priest Rapids hydroelectric dams on the Columbia River.

In the coming year, PUD officials anticipate that electrical demands will exceed the two dams’ generation capability. Then, the district will need to rely on other more-expensive power sources – solar, wind, perhaps nuclear, along with open market purchases -- to serve customers. In that case, those who “cause the cost, bear the cost” while core customers are protected, according to district policy.

Last week, commissioners Nelson Cox, Tom Flint, Terry Pyle, Larry Schaapman, and Judy Wilson unanimously approved Resolution 9111, which gives priority access to core customers for the utility’s lowest-cost hydropower.

Flint, who has served on the commission for 25 years, said the PUD was “built by and for” residents and farmers. He described them as “our original investors (who) should get the most consideration.”

At 6 cents per kilowatt-hour for residential customers and 3.8 cents per kWH for industrial customers, Grant PUD has some of the lowest rates in the world, said Pyle. The district’s rates are about one-half of state and national averages, with only fellow mid-Columbia public utility districts in Chelan and Douglas counties charging less for power.

Grant PUD is seeing increasing industrial demand for power at a time when the district also faces more-stringent state environmental requirements, constraints in transmission capability and regional reliability, upgrading decades-old infrastructure including major generator-turbine projects at both dams, inflationary costs for materials ranging from wire to transformers, and the need to retain and add increasingly skilled employees.

“We need skilled people,” said Wilson. “… that’s a problem for us to maintain what we’ve already built here.”

Grant PUD is adding more personnel – an additional 88 positions are forecast for hiring next year – to design, build, and maintain infrastructure to meet future growth.

Commissioners said the district is committed to “exploring all options” to reduce costs. PUD general manager/CEO John Mertlich noted the district’s involvement in an annual Northwest power auction, which involves selling 30% of the two dams’ output to the highest bidder. The return rate, which is several cents higher per kilowatt hour than what core customers pay, provides “a ton of value” to those customers, said Mertlich.

“Monetizing our assets provides incredible benefits to Grant County," he said.

The PUD’s long-range forecast shows only slight power-demand increases  over the next two decades for seven rate classes: residential, small commercial, irrigation, ag services, large general, and basic industrial.

But power demands from large industrial users, evolving industries such as cryptocurrency “miners,” and fast charging for electric vehicles are projected to increase significantly.

However, within the “non-core customer” category, the PUD is looking at two separate tiers, which could be incrementally adjusted over time. Tier 1 would include agriculture processing, general industrial, and large general service customers, such as “big box” stores, that would fall below a specified power consumption threshhold. The biggest power consumers would be in Tier 2, including large industrials, evolving industries, and commercial EV charging.  

In a recent survey of more than 900 customers, over 85% of respondents said Grant PUD’s highest priority should be keeping prices as low as possible, followed by minimizing power outages (84.6%), protecting and enhancing natural resources (73.5%), providing energy savings programs (70.9%), promotion of jobs and economic development (66.6%), and reducing carbon emissions (55.6%).