Commission recap, 11/12/2024 — Fiber celebration, same rate for cryptos, more...

Grant PUD commissioners were joined by PUD employees and representatives of contractor North Sky on Tuesday, Nov. 12 to celebrate the near completion of the 25-year fiber buildout to all of Grant County.

Crew members for North Sky Communications, Grant PUD's fiber buildout contractor, work to install fiber on Sagebrush Flats Road west of Ephrata last month. Once the Sagebrush Flats Road work is finished, fiber will built out throughout all of Grant County. 

Commissioners celebrate near completion of fiber buildout 

Grant PUD commissioners took time to acknowledge the near completion of a 25-year mission of building out a county-wide fiber optic network during its meeting on Tuesday, Nov. 12 in Ephrata.  

“Grant County has a heritage of local control and being in control of their destiny,” said Commissioner Tom Flint, a strong proponent for fiber since he was elected to the board in 2000. “Not only in their power portfolio, but also in their communications portfolio. It’s a bit touching to have a dream and see it come to a conclusion.” 

Grant PUD began exploring fiber in 1999 with a pilot project to test the technology. Once the pilot project proved successful, the commission at the time authorized extending fiber to customers in many of the cities and towns in the county. By the mid-2010s, fiber was available to three-quarters of Grant PUD’s customers. After a public consultation with customers, the commissioners authorized the final buildout to the remaining customers starting in 2019 with contractor North Sky.  

Commissioner Nelson Cox complemented the North Sky Communications team’s work ethic and pride they showed in the service they were bringing to Grant PUD’s customers. 

“Our county loves you,” Cox said. “That’s why they wave at you whenever they see you.” 

Cox and the rest of the commissioners also praised the many Grant PUD employees and departments that all had a hand in the build-out. 

“You all deserve a round of applause,” said commissioner Terry Pyle. 

The North Sky crew and Grant PUD project team have about five miles of fiber-optic cable left to install to finish the final area by Dec. 10, which is connecting customers west of Ephrata on Sagebrush Flats. About 75% of customers who have fiber available are subscribing to it through one of Grant PUD’s authorized service provider partners. To learn more about fiber, visit Grant PUD: High Speed Network. 

Hear the discussion at 4:44:17  on the commission audio. 

Staff recommends that cryptocurrency miners stay on Evolving Industry rate 

Grant PUD staff recommends that cryptocurrency miners in Grant County remain in Rate Schedule 17/Evolving Industry. 

Baxter Gillette, with the Product Development group, told commissioners that an assessment of the ongoing risk profile of the cryptocurrency mining industry determined the Evolving Industry Rate was the most applicable, because of the level of business and regulatory risks involved with the cryptocurrency industry.  

Currently, the only industry classified as Rate Schedule 17/Evolving Industry is cryptocurrency mining. The rate includes Grant PUD’s cost of serving cryptocurrency miners in the county plus risk adders specific to serving the industry. 

Commissioners will consider rate adjustments for Rate Schedule 17 customers through a public rate-setting process to come over the next few months.  

For presentation materials, see pages 62 to 88 of the presentation packet. Hear the discussion at 2:56:03 on the commission audio. 

Proposal could help decipher the costs behind customer rates

A staff “unbundling” proposal could make it easier for customers to understand the costs that contribute to electric-rate increases. But commissioners said Tuesday that they need more time to study it, first.

Staffers say the proposal could aid transparency by breaking costs into categories that include electric generation costs at Priest Rapids and Wanapum dams, costs to maintain the power grid and use it to deliver electricity to customers, as well as new, higher costs incurred as Grant PUD purchases additional power or builds new generating resources to meet its customers’ demand.

It also seeks to better satisfy a commissioner request – to show how the utility’s “core customers” – residential, agricultural and small business – will continue to receive the preferred electric rates made possible by Grant PUD’s low-cost hydropower even as the county’s demand for more energy is driven by its largest industrial customers.

“In general, I think we’re going down the right path,” Commission President Tom Flint said, admitting that he and others will need time to study the proposal. “Each one of us will have to digest it and stir the pot.”

Grant PUD sets its rates to ensure that revenue received from customers’ electric bills cover the utility’s operational and maintenance costs for the upcoming year.

Electric rates, alone, don’t cover all the utility’s annual expenses. Grant PUD pays for the rest with a combination of long-term loans and reserves fed by other revenue sources that include sale on the wholesale market of surplus energy and from “slice contracts” – electricity sold at a premium to resellers willing to pay more for clean hydropower.

These costs and revenues have long been accounted for by “bundling” them, using a tariff-like method called the EUDL CRAC -- “Estimated Unmet District Load Cost Recovery Adjustment. This method has always been difficult for both staff and customers to understand and explain, commissioners have said.

As Grant PUD supplements its hydropower with new types of generation or other energy resources, the utility’s analysts say their  “unbundled” proposal could show more clearly how costs for this new generation are allocated among customer rate classes. Commissioners took no action on the proposal Tuesday.  

Hear the full discussion at 1:17:35 on the commission audio. See the detailed proposal on pages 11-33 of the presentation materials.

Commissioners also:

• Heard details of how a rate increase planned for 2025 would affect customers’ electric bills, based on the amount of increase commissioners vote to approve. Staff presented rate-increase scenarios of 2%, 2.5% and 3%, with examples of how each would affect customer electric bills and retail rate revenue if applied evenly, across all customer classes, or allocated in a way that takes into account the differences between the existing rates compared to the estimated cost to serve each customer class. The draft 2025 budget assumes a 2% rate increase, effective as of April 1, 2025. Commissioners will decide in the coming weeks if that will be enough and how to allocate the increase. Hear the full discussion at 2:17:11 on the commission audio. See the detailed presentation on pages 34-59 of the presentation materials.
  
  
• Heard from Senior Manager of Internal Audit Dmitriy Turchick about that status of Grant PUD’s internal audit plan for 2024 and review of the plan for 2025. Hear the full discussion at 47:03 on the commission audio. See the detailed presentation on pages 1-10 of the presentation materials.
  
  
• Heard some of the big changes to Grant PUD’s Customer Service Policy, which include a discount rate for all income-qualified residential households. Presently the 20% discount rate only applies to income-qualified senior and disabled customers. The proposed policy changes will also include a $50 increase to the residential deposit amount equaling $200, and elimination of an additional higher deposit for customers who have had their power disconnected for nonpayment. See the full presentation on pages 96 to 105 of the presentation packet. Hear the discussion at 3:35:52 on the commission audio. 
  
  
• Approved the purchase and sale agreement of 960 acres in four parcels of primarily dry-land farm ground, owned by Johnson Family Farms, LLC., near the intersection of Road W and 16 NE – about 15 miles northeast of Moses Lake. Cost of the property is $1.056 million. Grant PUD is interested in acquiring the property to potentially develop it as a site for future electrical generation and increased power delivery capacity to meet the growing needs of its Grant County customers. See page 16 to 22 of the commission packet. Hear the discussion at 2:51:30 on the commission audio. 
  
  
• Approved changes to Grant PUD’s cell-phone reimbursement policy for employees so that all eligible employees would receive a standard $60 a month stipend. See page 8 to 15 of the commission packet. No discussion preceded the vote.