EPHRATA — The Grant County PUD will have a new rate class for “evolving industries” in April 2019. Utility district commissioners approved the new Class 17 on a 5-0 vote at the regular commission meeting Tuesday.

The new rates will go into effect April 1, 2019, when rates for the year are set for all rate classes. Class 17 will be phased in over a three-year period.

The new rate class was approved after about a year of study, debate and controversy, which began when the PUD received a number of inquiries about and applications for service. Many of the inquiries came from people involved in the cryptocurrency industry, which uses a lot of electricity in the process.

Cryptocurrency operations can be set up anywhere, including residential areas. Class 17 customers that otherwise would qualify for Class 1 (residential) rates or are using less than 200 kilowatts of electricity per month will pay a basic charge of $5 per day and about 5.4 cents per kilowatt hour in 2019.

Customers who use more than 200KW per month will pay $500 per month basic charge and about 2.4 cents per kilowatt hour in 2019. The first-year increase is about 15 percent.

Cryptocurrency customers protested the new rates, saying they were too high and could lead to companies moving out of the county, or going out of business altogether. During public comment sessions some said they found mistakes in the calculations, or what they thought of as false assumptions.

Commissioner Bob Bernd said commissioners had taken into account the information they received from the cryptocurrency operators. But, Bernd said, the business, because it is new, is at increased risk. Commissioner Tom Flint said starting the new rate class is a way to shift the risk to the business owners, which is, in his opinion, where it should be.

Cryptocurrency businesses had compared themselves to data centers, said commissioner Larry Schaapman, but in his opinion cryptocurrency is different, and Bernd agreed with that. Schaapman also said he believed the PUD staff who wrote the proposal had done the work following the same rules used for other rate classes.

Commissioner Terry Brewer said he sympathized with people who might have to move a business or lose a business altogether. But sometimes it happens, he said, and the PUD has obligations to its existing customers first.

Class 17, like other rates, is reviewed every year, and will be subject to revision if necessary, Brewer said.

Cheryl Schweizer can be reached via email at education@columbiabasinherald.com.