Grant PUD slates sessions on 2027 power rates, new budget
Proposed rate hikes range from 3.5% to 24%, depending on customer class.
Updated
Proposed electric rate increases next year for residential, farm, and commercial customers will be the subject of a Nov. 10 public hearing. Grant PUD photo
EPHRATA — Grant PUD commissioners will consider proposed rate adjustments and adoption of a $738.1 million operations budget for 2027 during separate sessions later this month.
A public hearing on the district’s rate proposals is scheduled for 2 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 10, in the commission room at PUD headquarters, 30 C St. S.W., Ephrata. The session can also be viewed online or via a phone-in option. Written comments can be submitted through Nov. 12.
Information on remote attendance, a summary sheet, comments link, and a Sept. 15 rates discussion workshop between commissioners and PUD staff can be accessed on the district website.
For the coming year, the district is considering a 3.5% rate increase for “core customers” and up to a 24% rate hike for some specific high-power-consuming data center operations.
Core customers are considered residential, irrigation, farm and small businesses within the county. Larger power consumers are placed into two separate tiers that include industrial, commercial electric-vehicle charging, and “high-density compute” facilities such as data centers which may require significant additional infrastructure.
The proposal “helps protect residential, small business, and agricultural customers, and makes sure new growth pays the added costs it brings. It also helps ensure that rates better reflect the costs of providing electric service, now and in the future,” said Ty Erhman, Grant PUD’s senior vice president of retail operations, in a recent press statement.
Any rate adjustments for the coming year are typically implemented in early April.
The PUD has forecast annual rate increases in the coming decade in response to continuing growth demands for power which exceed the generation capacity of the district’s two hydroelectric dams and to comply with carbon-free renewable energy mandates by the state of Washington.
Nonetheless, the three mid-Columbia River public utilities in Chelan, Douglas, and Grant counties have some of the lowest power rates in the nation. Grant PUD’s average rate cost for residential customers is 6.7 cents per kilowatt-hour compared to a state average of 13.3 cents and a national average of 15.6 cents.
Following two public hearings last month, PUD commissioners are also expected to consider adoption of the district’s proposed 2027 budget during their Nov. 24 business meeting. The $738.1 million draft is about 5% higher than this year’s $703.3 million budget. Officials attribute the increase to “rising costs primarily associated with serving a growing customer base.”
But officials say the new budget’s “net amount” is projected to drop to $513.5 million because of anticipated revenue “offsets” which reduce the district’s gross expenses by $224.6 million. Offsets include customer payments for infrastructure which specifically serves them, energy sales at cost to Grant PUD's long-term power purchasers, and net energy sales.
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Grant PUD slates sessions on 2027 power rates, new budget
Proposed rate hikes range from 3.5% to 24%, depending on customer class.
EPHRATA — Grant PUD commissioners will consider proposed rate adjustments and adoption of a $738.1 million operations budget for 2027 during separate sessions later this month.
A public hearing on the district’s rate proposals is scheduled for 2 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 10, in the commission room at PUD headquarters, 30 C St. S.W., Ephrata. The session can also be viewed online or via a phone-in option. Written comments can be submitted through Nov. 12.
Information on remote attendance, a summary sheet, comments link, and a Sept. 15 rates discussion workshop between commissioners and PUD staff can be accessed on the district website.
For the coming year, the district is considering a 3.5% rate increase for “core customers” and up to a 24% rate hike for some specific high-power-consuming data center operations.
Core customers are considered residential, irrigation, farm and small businesses within the county. Larger power consumers are placed into two separate tiers that include industrial, commercial electric-vehicle charging, and “high-density compute” facilities such as data centers which may require significant additional infrastructure.
The proposal “helps protect residential, small business, and agricultural customers, and makes sure new growth pays the added costs it brings. It also helps ensure that rates better reflect the costs of providing electric service, now and in the future,” said Ty Erhman, Grant PUD’s senior vice president of retail operations, in a recent press statement.
Any rate adjustments for the coming year are typically implemented in early April.
The PUD has forecast annual rate increases in the coming decade in response to continuing growth demands for power which exceed the generation capacity of the district’s two hydroelectric dams and to comply with carbon-free renewable energy mandates by the state of Washington.
Nonetheless, the three mid-Columbia River public utilities in Chelan, Douglas, and Grant counties have some of the lowest power rates in the nation. Grant PUD’s average rate cost for residential customers is 6.7 cents per kilowatt-hour compared to a state average of 13.3 cents and a national average of 15.6 cents.
Following two public hearings last month, PUD commissioners are also expected to consider adoption of the district’s proposed 2027 budget during their Nov. 24 business meeting. The $738.1 million draft is about 5% higher than this year’s $703.3 million budget. Officials attribute the increase to “rising costs primarily associated with serving a growing customer base.”
But officials say the new budget’s “net amount” is projected to drop to $513.5 million because of anticipated revenue “offsets” which reduce the district’s gross expenses by $224.6 million. Offsets include customer payments for infrastructure which specifically serves them, energy sales at cost to Grant PUD's long-term power purchasers, and net energy sales.