EPHRATA — The Grant County PUD is making more money than anticipated through the first nine months of 2023 and projections show revenues will be above the budget estimates for the year. Utility district staff are suggesting using some of that money to provide some extra cushion in the district's bond repayment fund. 

Operating revenues are $154.7 million higher for the first nine months of 2023 than in the same period of 2022, according to reports given to PUD commissioners at the Nov. 28 meeting. Jennifer Sager, PUD senior accounting manager, said that’s mostly due to a $129.3 million increase in wholesale revenues, and an additional $25.6 million in retail revenue. 

“(Wholesale revenue)  is up significantly from when we (prepared) the budget for 2023,” said Brydon Ecklund, PUD lead financial analyst. 

Net power revenue is projected to be $232.9 million for 2023, Ecklund said, well above the budget estimate of $95.2 million. Retail revenue and interest income also are projected to be higher than the budget projections. 

Expenses have gone up and were $11.8 million over the budget projection for the first nine months of 2023. 

The net operating income for 2023 is projected to be $268.1 million. 

Utility district financial staff are recommending transferring some of the money, $45 million, to the “reserve and contingency” fund. That money is used to pay back the bonds the PUD has issued to pay for its projects. 

The target is to have about two times the amount of money needed to pay back the bonds. The transfer would increase the amount of money in the R&C fund to about $147 million, which would be about three and a half times the funding needed. 

In other business, commissioners approved a contract with a team of architects and contractors to start the design process for a new PUD facility in Ephrata. 

Commissioners approved a contract with Absher Construction, Puyallup; Integrus Architecture, Spokane; and Huitt-Zollars Design-Build Team, Seattle, to work on the preliminary steps for the construction of a new service facility in Ephrata. The contract is not to exceed $3.99 million.

The long-term goal, according to a PUD memo to commissioners, is to build a new headquarters in Ephrata along with new service facilities in Ephrata and Moses Lake. The projects will be built in phases to minimize the impact on staff and customers, the memo said. The first phase will be the service center in Ephrata. 

As part of the master facilities plan completed in 2022, PUD officials looked at updating and modernizing the existing facilities, but determined it would be more cost-effective to build new ones, the memo said. 

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