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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 17, 2010

Grant PUD Rates Increasing

A larger than projected electric rate increase for 2011 will be presented to Grant PUD Commissioners for consideration next week.

Over the last few months, staff and commissioners have diligently reviewed the utility’s 2011 budget in preparation for presenting it to you, our customer-owners. After thorough examination, nearly $15 million was cut from the budget in an effort to minimize pressure on utility rates. Though our financial situation improved with these cuts, it is still not where it needs to be to meet the commission’s financial policy. Grant PUD needs a larger than four percent rate increase in 2011 and beyond.

Below average snowfall turned 2010 into one of the worst water years on record for the Columbia Basin. This year follows a similarly bad water year in 2009 and compounds the significant reduction in revenues the utility has experienced. In a bad water year we generate less power to sell in the wholesale market, thereby reducing revenue received and potentially spending significant monies on power purchases to meet load.

The impact of the last two below average water years reduced Grant PUD’s anticipated revenues by nearly $80 million, causing us to rely on cash reserves. This impact, paired with the need to replace $749 million worth of ageing infrastructure at our two hydroelectric facilities as well as our need to construct a new $43 million transmission line to bring hydropower to meet our county’s energy demands, places significant strain on the utility’s finances. The cost of producing power from our dams alone has increased by 82 percent since 2006. We anticipate it will increase another 89 percent by 2015.

Though no one likes to see rates go up, the pending increase is necessary to preserve the financial health of your public utility. Management and staff at Grant PUD will continue to work diligently to provide you some of the lowest electric costs in the nation.

Tim Culbertson
General Manager

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Grant County Public Utility District is a Washington state municipal corporation that began electric service in 1942.  Owned by the people it serves, Grant PUD generates and sells electricity to Grant County residents and millions of customers throughout Central Washington and the Pacific Northwest.  The Priest Rapids Project, comprised of Priest Rapids and Wanapum dams, produces nearly 2,000 megawatts of clean, renewable and reliable electricity – enough to supply a city the size of Seattle.  A leader in science based technology; Grant PUD is committed to finding effective measures for the protection, mitigation and enhancement of salmon, steelhead and other natural and cultural resources.