EPHRATA — Grant County Public Utility District General manager John Mertlich said electricity is not only crucial, but indispensable, in today’s world. 

“On the supply curve for everything, the first 5% is power, and the rest of the curve doesn’t happen without it,” Mertlich said.  

Mertlich was appointed as the general manager and chief executive officer in March. Demand for PUD electricity is growing, and meeting the supply has been the subject of a lot of discussion for PUD administrators, commissioners and customers alike. Demand has spurred the need for new and expanded distribution and transmission lines, and where and how those are built has spurred sometimes contentious discussion. 

Mertlich said surges in demand have been a recurring phenomenon for the PUD since its inception.  

“We've been lucky in that we've had this great length (of time) from the investment, years and years ago, in the Priest Rapids Project that's been able to supply all of our power needs, along with providing a means to go into the wholesale market and sell that electricity,” he said. “We have grown through that project – and it has taken a long time. We have seen upticks in growth in the 80s and 90s, and then most recently, since about the 2010s until now, we've seen (similar) growth.” 

The current growth spurt is a little different, however. 

“What we’ve seen is it accelerates, then it kind of plateaus, and then it’s accelerated again. But because we built the dams at such a size, it didn’t necessarily impact us. We have seen growth before in the magnitude we’re seeing now; it’s just, now it matters,” he said.  

Meeting that demand will mean some big changes in PUD operations. 

“What you’re seeing is an expansion of our system in all ways, shapes and forms. We’re needing to expand the generation side of our system, we’re needing to expand the distribution side of our system, and the very last element that we’re seeing now is, we need to expand the transmission part of our system,” Mertlich said.  

The PUD also has to meet state regulations governing the sources of power generation, which has spurred investment in solar and wind generation. About 80 megawatts of the utility’s supply comes from a solar project in Yakima County, and two projects in Grant County eventually will supply another 380 megawatts. Mertlich estimated the two new solar projects by 2028. 

There’s also the prospect of adding nuclear energy. 

“We’re actively doing discovery work with our longer-term partner, X Energy. We recently bought property out at Road W at the far eastern side of the county, and we’ll have X Energy do an engineering analysis of that site and see how suitable their technology is to being situated there and being a power generation site for us,” he said. “But that’s probably many years down the road, that particular project.” 

Engineering and determining the proper design is a long process, he said.  

“Along with all the other analysis, (we ask) does it make sense for customers? Nuclear tends to be quite expensive. It is a carbon-free resource, but cost is always something we’re evaluating,” he said.  

The PUD’s goal is to minimize the impact on overall rates, he said.  

“We use the ‘cause the cost, bear the cost’ principle,” Mertlich said. “That’s longstanding policy here, that if a large customer comes in and they’re going to be asking to get hooked up to the system, that is not going to be a cost that’s going to be borne by anyone else on our system. It’s going to be borne by them.” 

Electrical prices are subject to regulation, and for good reason, he said. 

“Public power is always going to be cheaper than an (investor-owned utility) but even an IOU doesn’t get to charge whatever they want,” he said. “I think that’s a really good illustrative point around electricity. It’s so valuable that we have to regulate it. If we don’t regulate it, electricity will absorb the entire supply curve because you can’t do the other things without it.” 

Grant County PUD general manager John Mertlich talks about pricing during a May 2024 public meeting on rates. Mertlich was appointed to his current job in March 2025.