EPHRATA — Electrical rates are the chief concern of Grant County PUD customers, but residential and commercial customer satisfaction is very high. Those were some of the conclusions of a customer satisfaction survey conducted this fall and presented to PUD commissioners Tuesday.

The survey team interviewed residential customers, and talked to irrigation, industrial and commercial customers in focus groups.

About 90 percent of the residential customers said they were satisfied with the service they received, which is the highest in the last five years. Irrigation customers were less satisfied, and expressed concerns about electrical rates.

Affordable power rates were also a concern for industrial customers, but industrial customers were also interested in energy-saving programs and power generation that provides a low carbon impact. Like residential customers, commercial customers were concerned about reliability and affordability, but were more interested in energy saving methods than residential customers.

For residential customers, “there is a fairly widespread recognition that even though rates are affordable, they are increasing,” the report said. The number of residential customers who said their bill was affordable decreased to 84 percent, down from 90 percent in 2015.

The priorities of residential customers have not changed in two years – the top priority is reliable electricity (58 percent), with the second priority keeping rates as low as possible (52 percent). Fewer residential customers are willing to pay a $5 surcharge for recreation improvements; 69 percent of respondents said they wouldn’t support a charge.

Irrigation rate increases have been higher than residential or industrial rate increases. “Ag customers expressed lower levels of satisfaction, citing the burden of increasing rates,” the report said. “They believe the PUD should be doing more to keep prices low.” Irrigators expressed concern that the efforts to attract new industrial customers are coming at their expense.

Industrial customers were also worried about rates. An industrial customer is quoted as saying inexpensive electricity is what draws data centers to Grant County. “But prices have been going up here and prices in other areas have been going down,” the customer said.

Participants in the industrial focus group said the PUD needed to improve their communications practices – customers don’t get notice of issues until after decisions have been made.

Customers in the commercial focus group like the idea of energy-saving programs, and they too are concerned about rates. A commercial customer is quoted as saying, “Prices are low and reasonable. But I don’t know how much they’re working to keep them that way.”

Industrial customers and irrigators wanted more communication and more and better information from the PUD, the report said. Most customers for the survey praised PUD staff for their willingness to help customers and response to power outages.

Cheryl Schweizer can be reached via email at [email protected].