Commission recap, 4/8/2025 -- More time granted for transmission talks with land owners. More...

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. 

Commission president Terry Pyle proposed tabling the resolution starting condemnation for six weeks after affected property owners along the route of the proposed line attended Tuesday’s commission to express their concerns.

Pyle told the landowners the commission would like to avoid having to vote on the condemnation resolution, which was up for review on April 8 for a possible vote on April 25. He said he hoped the six-week period would allow for further easement talks and negotiation between the landowners, Grant PUD staff, and commissioners. 

During the meeting, the landowners brought up concerns that Grant PUD had not provided effective communication with landowners, did not adequately consider alternative routes for the transmission line, was not fully addressing impacts to current land uses, and was not providing adequate compensation for acquiring the easements.  

Pyle pointed out that many of the property owners have not allowed Grant PUD staff on the property to stake out and measure where the proposed power poles and lines may be installed on their property. The lack of access is hampering Grant PUD’s ability to mitigate for land-use impacts and provide compensation for unavoidable impacts. 

“Without understanding where the poles go, we have nothing to talk about,” Pyle said. “It’s not going to do us any good to negotiate an easement without having an idea of where those poles are.” 

The commission will bring the matter up for discussion during their workshop on May 20 at 1 p.m. at the Ephrata Grant PUD Headquarters, with possible action on the condemnation resolution during the May 27 commission meeting.  

For more information, see pages 136-166 in the commission packet. Hear the discussion at 2:06:40  of the commission recording Part A and continues at 2:10 on commission audio Part B.  

Commissioners also:

--Unanimously approved a 20-year power-purchasing agreement with Quincy Solar for a 120 megawatt solar development to be built in the Rocky Ford area of Grant County, northwest of the Grant County International Airport. The agreement would begin Oct. 31, 2027. Power purchased would help Grant PUD meets its clean-energy obligations under the state’s Clean Energy Transformation Act (CETA). It also contributes to capacity planning for joining the Western Resource Adequacy Program, which matches utilities with capacity deficiencies to utilities with excess capacity to help ensure a reliable energy supply. For more information, view the commission recap from 3/25/2025 here, and pages 11-135 of this week’s commission recap. Hear a short recap of the contract at 3:04:16 of the commission audio.

--Heard that Grant PUD is already beginning early work to prepare for its Western Electricity Coordinating Council audit, which will take place in summer 2026. The audit gauges the utility’s compliance with industry standards for electric grid reliability and critical infrastructure. The audit happens once every three years, but auditors follow up with spot checks throughout the 3-year period. The goal is to identify and fix vulnerabilities before auditors do toward the target of “zero findings.” For more information, see pages 1-11 of the presentation materials. Here the discussion at 19:50 on the commission audio.

--Asked staff to continue working on a proposed new agricultural electric rate for energy used in farm activities like vegetable storage and processing. Staff’s latest analysis concluded that many customers who’d applied for the rate as originally proposed wouldn’t benefit from the proposed rate structure.  The Commission clarified that cannabis, residential, multi-residential and irrigation loads were not intended to be in this rate class.  Staff will integrate commissioners’ feedback to simplify the rate proposal and narrow its scope.  Staff will be back before commissioners with an adjusted proposal in the coming weeks. For more information, see pages 12-21 of the presentation materials. Hear the discussion at 1:00:12 on the commission audio.