Commissioners heard that Grant PUD’s Human Resources Department has launched an initiative to identify the critical employees the utility will need into the future and which roles, including engineers, that have been typically hard to fill. Their conclusions will help prioritize their recruiting efforts in the coming years. For more information, see Human Resources full quarterly business report on pages 1-9 of the presentation materials. Listen to the conversation at 16:03 on the commission audio.
An accomplished leader with more than 34 years’ experience in customer service across a wide spectrum of public-utility services, has been named Grant PUD’s vice president of Customer Experience.
Grant PUD has reorganized into two divisions to streamline its reporting structure for increased efficiency and better alignment with other public-power utilities.
Grant PUD’s continued strong financial indicators have earned a credit rating upgrade from Aa3 positive to Aa2 stable from Moody’s Ratings, commissioners learned Tuesday.
UPDATE, 5/21/2025 Vote postponed for proposed new fees for service applications.
The vote on a resolution to increase fees for power-request applications has been postponed to a later commission meeting - likely in June - to give staff and commissioners time to take customers’ suggestions into account and revise the proposed fee schedule. “Timing is of the essence, but we want to get this right,” Senior Manager of Large Power Solutions Andy Wendell said this week. “We now have some new guidance from the commission and will move forward with a new resolution proposal.”
Grant PUD’s Telecom & Fiber Services team told commissioners that as of March 31, 75.13% of Grant PUD’s customers are using the utility’s wholesale fiber-optic system. Communities with the highest participation rate include Desert Aire at 92.81%, George-Burke 86%, Quincy 85.83% and Mattawa 81.94%. Areas with the lowest participation rate are Stratford at 14%, Coulee City at 57.87%, Warden at 59.82% and Wilson Creek at 59.89%. The Wholesale Fiber team has a goal of an 80% participation rate by the end of 2025.
Customer information is not affected by a data breach that compromised the personal data of nearly 850 Grant PUD employees and recent retirees on the payroll from March through April 2024.
In April 2025, Grant PUD’s Energy Services department, in partnership with 2nd Harvest, hosted another impactful Mobile Food Bank event in Ephrata, Washington. This biannual initiative by Grant PUD, launched in September 2023, continues to make a meaningful difference for families facing food insecurity across Grant County while promoting the utility’s conservation and assistance programs.
NOTE: This recap contains two separate audio recordings, Part A and Part B. Part B contains the action items and the second part of the conversation with land owners who are disputing the route of the Wanapum to Mt. View transmission line.
Commissioners voted unanimously during their meeting on Tuesday, April 8 to table a resolution starting the process of acquiring easements on private property by condemnation for the new Wanapum to Mountain View 230 kilovolt transmission line.
A 19-year Grant PUD employee with ample insights into energy-trading markets and the changing utility environment has been named to lead the team researching investments in new sources of energy to power Grant County into the future.
Rich Flanigan will begin his new role as chief commercial officer on April 11, 2025, but is already serving as “interim” chief until his official start date. He replaces John Mertlich, whom commissioners recently chose to lead the utility as general manager & CEO.
Grant PUD’s General Manager John Mertlich was invited to attend the Marlin City Council meeting on March 17 to answer questions from residents in the area about Grant PUD’s recent purchase of 960 acres of farm and undeveloped shrub steppe land. The following is a synopsis of the questions from those in attendance with answers primarily provided by Grant PUD staff members following the meeting.
1. Why build an SMR (Small Modular Reactor) or other kind of power plant out here?
2. Why not put it next to your house and your schools, or in your commissioners’ backyards?
3. What about wildfire safety? This area is prone to wildland fires.
4. What is the workforce required for operating an SMR?
5. What is the workforce required for operating a solar farm?
6. What about transportation infrastructure needed to support the development?
7. How much lighting would be needed for the project? (Multiple residents brought up concerns about impact to views and night sky)
8. Multiple residents brought up concerns that more traffic and people would bring more crime.
9. Multiple residents brought up concerns about negative impacts to Marlin’s lifestyle and changing their valued small-town dynamics. Marlin is the smallest city in the state, and residents said they wanted to keep it that way.
10. Multiple residents brought up concerns about noise impacts from reciprocating engines, SMRs, or other kinds of power plants.
11. Residents brought up concerns about impact to local ag and a feedlot being constructed on a property near the Grant PUD property.
12. Are other utilities looking at building SMRs?
13. Several residents expressed concerns about the impacts to public health from a nearby nuclear facility.
14. What about transmission lines connected to a power plant, where would they be located?
15. How close would someone from Grant PUD live next to an SMR plant? Some residents are just 40 acres away.
16. A resident said it was offensive that Grant PUD stated there were few impacts to cultural resources by developing the property. The resident said the people of Marlin have a vital culture important to them.
17. Residents brought up concerns about safety issues in the past with Grant PUD including a powerhouse fire at Wanapum Dam and the Central Ephrata Substation fire.
18. How soon could an SMR be built?
19. What about services for construction and power-plant workers including gas stations and restaurants?
20. Residents brought up concerns about the impact of transmission lines on landscape views.
21. What is the local benefit?
22. A resident made the statement that some people in the area near the property aren’t even connected to the power grid by choice.
23. What about impacts to the aquifer? If this development requires pumping water out of the ground, it could cause other wells to go dry.
24. What is the driver of developing something out there? Where will the power go?
25. Residents brought up concerns about impacts to the Hutterite community, which is near the Road W Property. How is Grant PUD planning to reach out to them?
26. We appreciate the cheap, reliable power that Grant PUD provides. We just think a power plant should be located closer to where industry is located.
27. Why can’t we say no to our industrial customers and not provide them with any more power?
28. The property should just be used for Shrub Steppe mitigation.
29. How many other locations in Grant County are being considered for power plants?
30. The property regularly gets flooded in the spring.
31. It’s all about money for Grant PUD, isn’t it?
32. It’s not green energy if you take out all of this nature.
33. What about hunting on the property next hunting season?
34. In the end, if Grant PUD decides to build a power plant on the site, would you do it even if we object?
(Editor’s note: This meeting took place at the Hydro Office Building, near Wanapum Dam and was not recorded.)
(Note: Commissioners also announced the new general manager this week. Details are in a separate news release here.)
Careful budgeting and disciplined spending resulted total expenditures of $464.4 million in 2024 – only $2.9 million below that year’s original budget forecast, according to the latest figures, shared with commissioners Tuesday.
EPHRATA WA - Grant PUD Commission voted to appoint John Mertlich as the next General Manager and CEO position during their meeting on March 11.
Planting a tree isn’t just a great way to spruce up your landscape—it’s also a smart investment in energy efficiency. At Grant PUD, we believe in solutions that benefit your home and the environment. Trees not only add beauty to your property but also help reduce cooling and heating costs, improve air quality, and protect water quality. According to the National Arbor Day Foundation, strategically placed trees can help the average homeowner save up to 20% on energy costs.