Grant PUD negotiates contracts that reduce risk of possible rate increases
CHERYL SCHWEIZER | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 5 years, 8 months AGO
Casey McCarthy/Columbia Basin Herald Grant County PUD linemen work on adding service for a new home being built off of Pioneer Way in Moses Lake on Monday afternoon, while replacing the existing pole that had been there since 1956.
Senior Reporter Cheryl Schweizer is a journalist with more than 30 years of experience serving small communities in the Pacific Northwest. She began her post-high-school education at Treasure Valley Community College and enerned her journalism degree at Oregon State University. After working for multiple publications, she has settled down at the Columbia Basin Herald and has been a staple of the newsroom for more than a decade. Schweizer’s dedication to her communities and profession has earned her the nickname “The Baroness of Bylines.” She covers a variety of beats including health, business and various municipalities. | July 21, 2020 12:04 AM
EPHRATA — Grant County PUD officials are in negotiations with power purchasers for contracts that would help reduce the risk of possible rate increases to PUD customers.
Rich Flanigan, Grant PUD senior manager of wholesale marketing and supply, said Friday that the idea behind a “slice” contract is to reduce the possibility rates would have to be raised as a result of a bad water year — low river flows.
“We get certainty in revenues,” Flanigan said.
In a slice contract, the PUD sells its share of the output of Priest Rapids and Wanapum dams to outside parties, who then provide electricity to meet the PUD’s needs up to a previously established threshold.
Utility district officials are working on two contracts, Flanigan said. One buyer would receive 33.3 percent of the district’s output; the second would receive 20 percent.
The district has an existing contract for the output of most of its share of electrical output, but it expires in September. When the PUD advertised for bids for new contracts, bidders were willing to pay more money for the 33 percent share, Flanigan said.
The 33 percent contract would be for five years. The 20 percent contract would be for three years. Some of the remaining output already is under contract.
When these contracts are signed, all the PUD’s generation will be under contract through the end of 2021.
As an example of why companies want to buy PUD power, Flanigan cited the fees imposed on electricity generated by sources that produce carbon emissions. Hydropower doesn’t generate carbon, which means buyers are willing to pay more for it in markets with those fees, California being an example.
But companies selling electricity often have to guarantee delivery and can’t always be sure that reasonably priced power will be available when they need it.
“We’re just not willing to take a lot of those risks,” Flanigan said.
But buyers of PUD power are willing to take them, he addded.
The contracts cover only the electrical generation.
“We still own and operate the dams,” Flanigan said. “We’re making all the main decisions.”
Cheryl Schweizer can be reached via email at [email protected].
ARTICLES BY CHERYL SCHWEIZER
Road closures, roundabout, mean construction season underway
EPHRATA — The grass is starting to turn green, the trees are starting to leaf out, construction crews are starting to build roundabouts – hey, it’s spring. At least one roundabout project is in its final phase, held over from fall 2025. The intersection of State Route 282 and Nat Washington Way will be closed the week of April 6 to allow crews to install permanent lights. “This really is the final (closure),” wrote Grant County Administrator Tom Gaines in a media release. “The roundabout will close at 6 a.m. Monday, and we plan to reopen by Friday, possibly sooner if the work finishes early.”
Ybarra announces run for Washington Senate
QUINCY — State Representative Alex Ybarra, R-Quincy, has announced his candidacy for the Washington Senate. If he’s elected, he would replace Judy Warnick, R-Moses Lake, who announced her retirement in March.
Othello Community Museum to open April 25
OTHELLO — With a couple of new exhibits, a new heating-cooling system, rearranged displays and a thorough cleaning, the Othello Community Museum will open for the summer April 25. The goal, said Molly Popchock, museum board secretary, is to operate for a full season.