EPHRATA — Grant County PUD commissioners have approved electrical rates for 2018, effective April 1. The rates were approved at the regular commission Tuesday. The vote was 3-2, with commissioners Tom Flint and Dale Walker voting no. Residential rates will increase by 1.5 percent, an estimated $1.49 per month. The actual increase depends on use. General service (class 2) rates will go up by 2.1 percent, an estimated $6.43 per month. Irrigation customers (class 3) will receive a 3.4 percent increase, about $24.65 per month. Rates for large general customers (class 7) will go up one percent, an estimated $73.85 per month. Large industrial customers (class 15) will receive a rate increase of seven-tenths of 1 percent. Industrial customers, agriculture food processors and ag boiler customers all will receive a 5 percent increase. Commissioners approved a policy in 2014 that customers would pay at least 80 percent of the cost of providing them service, and not more than 15 percent over the cost of providing service. The actual cost of service is determined by a study, originally conducted in 2014 and updated periodically. The latest study is being conducted this year. Commissioners also have approved policies establishing a 2 percent overall increase each year for 10 years, beginning in 2014. Because rate classes have different costs of service, different rate classes will see different increases. Rates, rate structure and rate increases have been the subject of a lot of discussion at commission meetings the last few years. Commissioners have, over the years, outlined their positions on rates, and they reiterated those opinions at Tuesday’s meeting. “This is always a delicate subject, when you start talking about rate increases,” said commissioner Larry Schaapman. Schaapman and commissioner Terry Brewer said they thought the rate structure was a fair way to apportion costs. Schaapman said the cost analysis method inoculates the system against outside pressure, in his opinion. Commissioner Bob Bernd said analysis indicated a 2 percent increase across the board would make the disparities worse between rate classes. Bernd said he’s been on the commission long enough to remember situations with no rate increase one year and a 6 or 8 percent increase the next year. “Went through that, didn’t like if very well.” Flint said the current regular-but-small increases are “certainly more palatable” than periodic 6 or 10 percent increases. The commission has, in his opinion, set “a worthy goal, popular or unpopular,” Bernd said. Flint said he’s not necessarily opposed to a 2 percent increase, since the PUD has generated substantial debt to upgrade the turbines and generators at Wanapum and Priest Rapids dams. But he doesn’t like the way the increases are structured, he said, with rate increases for irrigators at more than 2 percent. Farmers and ranchers helped build Priest Rapids and Wanapum, he said, and deserve consideration. Walker said he has been consistent in his opposition to rate increases as long as the PUD has a substantial cash balance. Brewer said he’s in favor of a series of small increases as a more sound business practice, in his opinion, than small or no increases followed by large increases. Because the PUD is engaged in a multi-decade - and very expensive - upgrade project, the utility needs to keep money on hand to pay some of those costs, Brewer said.

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