Commission recap, 10/8/2024 -- Grant PUD to buy land for new Moses Lake service center. More...
Grant PUD Commissioners Tuesday unanimously approved $10.145 million to buy three parcels of land totaling 159 acres near Moses Lake for a new service center.
The property is within the Moses Lake urban growth area, near the junction of Highway 17 and I-90 (see map). According to the purchase-and-sale agreement approved by commissioners, the utility will pay the estate of David L. Sparks for the land.
A service center is a complex facility that includes transportation shop, materials storage yard, headquarters for regional line crews, office and meeting/training space, lockers and lunch area. Regional service centers are key to providing reliable service into the future as the county’s demand for electricity continues to grow.
The proposed new Moses Lake Service Center is part of Grant PUD’s Facilities Master Plan to replace buildings that are aged, outdated or no longer adequate for efficient operations. The commission approved the plan in 2022.
The utility is in the process of buying property in eastern Ephrata, south of Highway 17, for a new Ephrata Service Center and expects the sale to be complete in January 2025 for a groundbreaking later that year.
A Grant PUD analysis with the help of an external consultant determined that building new buildings in better locations is more cost-and-benefit effective than improving existing buildings that have become inadequate due to space and access limitations and renovation costs.
“We’re looking 20, 30, 40 years in the future,” Commissioner Larry Schaapman said of the purchase. “We’re long-term thinking this. They’re not making any more land. Things are getting more expensive to buy. From my perspective, it was a good piece that staff worked diligently in finding. This puts us in a good spot for the future.”
“I echo everything Larry said and I’d like to take my hat off to staff,” Commission President Tom Flint said. “A lot of hard work went into making this happen. We share your enthusiasm for this utility to make things happen for the future.”
For more information, see pages 15-24 of the commission packet. Hear the discussion at 1:52:13 on the commission audio.
2025 budget hearings reflect Grant PUD and county growth
Grant PUD commissioners hosted public hearings on the 2025 budget at 2 p.m. and 6 p.m. Oct. 8 to review how the utility plans to spend $367.8 million with a focus on affordable rates for core customers while ensuring the success of all customers.
Total budgeted expenditures are higher than the 2024 budget due to an increase in operations and maintenance costs and a decrease in income earned through the contract sale of surplus electricity outside the county.
Capital expenses account for $253 million of total expenditures, with $189.7 million forecast for electric system upgrades and $63.4 million for turbine/generator rehab at Priest Rapids Dam and related projects.
Major capital projects include plans to buy property and build new service center campuses in Ephrata and Moses Lake, expand transmission capacity and build or upgrade substations in the Quincy area, Royal City and elsewhere around the county.
Operations and Maintenance expenses are forecast at $236.5 million, a 17% increase over 2024 as Grant PUD’s infrastructure and workforce expand to meet growing demand for electricity pushed mostly by industrial customers.
On the revenue/income side, sales to power purchasers at cost – a requirement of Grant PUD’s federal license – is budgeted at $19.1 million, down from $22.2 million forecast in 2024. Retail energy sales to Grant PUD customers are budgeted at $324.5 million, up from $292.2 forecast in 2024. Net power revenue from both wholesale and surplus power sales are forecast to $182.2 million, down from $246.7 forecast in 2024.
Overall, Grant PUD forecasts a positive change in net position (value of assets minus liabilities) of $192.3 million in 2025.
Load growth — growth in demand for electricity — is forecasted to be 3.7% lower than in 2025 compared to the prior load forecast due to construction delays by industrial customers. The 5-year compound annual growth rate (2025-2029) for the new load forecast is 4.2% while the prior forecast was 2.7%.
The Oct. 8 hearings focused solely on the 2025 budget with no discussion about rate-setting strategy or new rates by customer class. A total of four members of the public attended the two hearings.
Commissioners will have a final review and vote on the 2025 budget in November. Members of the public with budget-related questions can contact Public Affairs,
Commissioners also:
— Unanimously approved Motion 3490 to increase a contract with Cornforth Consultants by $1.9 million, plus applicable sales tax, for a new revised total contract of $4 million for geotechnical-related engineering support for dam safety. The contract’s completion date remains Dec. 31, 2027. For more information, see pages 7-14 of the commission packet.
— Learned more from Senior Manager of Asset Management Russ Seiler about how Grant PUD’s new and evolving Asset Management Department is partnering with and supporting other departments with data and mapping as well as accurate inventories of the utility’s physical assets. Work will continue over the coming years to create a complete database for more efficient budgeting, purchasing, risk management and planning. “That’s extremely enlightening,” Commissioners Larry Schaapman told Seiler. “I want you to know you make us look like heroes!” See the full presentation on pages 16-38 of the presentation materials. Hear the full discussion at 42:32:07 on the commission audio.
— Heard from Senior Manager of Telecom & Fiber Terry McKenzie and Manager of Telecom & Fiber Jake Johnson how the Telecom & Fiber Services Department plans to hit a milestone before year’s end of completing the buildout of the utility’s fiber-optic network, making it available to any customer who wants to connect. She and her team are planning a celebration at 3 pm during the afternoon session of the Nov. 12 commission meeting at Ephrata Headquarters to commemorate the network’s completion by mid-December.
As buildout concludes, the department is shifting its focus to maintenance, operation and upgrades to the existing network, which dates to the 1990s, and to increasing network revenue.
See the full presentation on pages 1-15 of the presentation materials. Hear the full discussion at 9:28:00 on the commission audio.
— Received a request for $79.5 million from Project Coordinator JT Wallace for the field labor to rehab the final four of the 10 turbine/generator units at Priest Rapids Dam. The request would increase the total $75.9 million contract with Voith Hydro to $155.4 million for all 10 units. The contracted work includes the labor costs to disassemble, inspect, rehabilitate, re-assemble and commission the units. The cost of the rehab work at Priest Rapids Dam is dependent on the wear and damage crews discover upon disassembling each unit, a strategy with a lower expected total cost than replacing each unit entirely.
“We anticipated when this contract was set in 2016 that we were making a lot of assumptions,” Commission Larry Schaapman said. “We could have done it all brand new, but I think we’ll still come in under that.”
See the full presentation on pages 39-47 of the presentation materials. Hear the discussion at 1:27:07 on the commission audio.
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