EPHRATA — Rates for all classes of Grant County Public Utility District will increase in 2026, but the percentage of increase won’t be the same for all customers. The new rates will go into effect April 1.

Utility district commissioners voted in November 2025 to change the way rates are calculated, a change Commissioner Tom Flint said he supports. Flint said he’s been on the commission for 25 years, and the Jan. 27 vote was the second time he voted in favor of the rate proposal.

“This is a great opportunity. It protects the core customers, it increases the rate that non-core customers, large industrials are going to pay, and it’s going to be substantially above what the core customers pay,” he said. “It’ll give (industrial customers) a 10-year forecast that they’ve been asking for.”

Residential rates will increase 3.4%; general service (small business) rates will go up 3.5%. Irrigation rates will go up 2.7%, while ag services will increase 3.5%. The ag services class is electrical uses related to agriculture other than irrigation.

Large industrial customers will see an 8.1% increase. Large general services rates will increase 10.7%, ag food processing will go up 9.2%, and evolving industry rates will go up 10.6%. Industrial customers will see a 8.5% increase. The industrial and large industrial classes are split by the amount of electricity they use.  Ag boiler rates will be increased by 9.5%, fast EV charging rates go up by 11.1% and street light rates will increase by 3.5%.

A list of rate increase percentages was released by the PUD last week, but Christine Pratt, PUD public information officer, said they were incorrect. The published rates were updated Tuesday.

Residential, agriculture and small business customers are considered “core customers,” and commissioners wanted to ensure they have first access to the lowest-cost power. The lowest-cost power comes from Priest Rapids and Wanapum dams.

The PUD has about 63% of the electricity generated by the two dams, and Ty Ehrman, senior vice president of retail operations, said core customers account for about 225 megawatts per year. The rest of the PUD’s share is available to non-core customers.

The rate schedule adopted includes increases for all classes of customers every year for 10 years. Ty Ehrman, PUD senior vice president of retail operations, said in an earlier interview that the goal is a 3.5% overall rate increase each year for core customers and 9.5% overall increase each year for non-core customers. Actual rate increases might be – and in 2026, they are – higher or lower than that for individual rate classes.

Rates and forecasts will be reevaluated each year, Ehrman said.

Grant County PUD rate increases for 2026, by customer class:

Residential - 3.4%

General Service - 3.5%

Irrigation - 2.7%

Ag Services - 3.5%

Street Lighting - 3.5%

Large General Service - 10.7%

Industrial - 8.5%

Large Industrial - 8.1%

Ag Food Processing - 9.2%

Evolving Industry - 10.6%

Fast EV Charging - 11.1%

Ag Boiler - 9.5%