Work is progressing on an “unbundling” strategy intended to ensure Grant PUD’s “core customers” – residential, ag and small business – get the lowest rates possible and industrial customers the rate-predictability and protection from large rate increases they’re asking for, commissioners heard Tuesday.

The effort comes as regional energy-reliability requirements and the state’s clean-energy laws put upward pressure on power costs. 

The strategy separates, or “unbundles,” the low-cost electricity generated by Priest Rapids and Wanapum dams from the higher-cost electricity Grant PUD must procure to meet the rising demand in the fast-growing industrial sector. 

The strategy better aligns the higher-cost electricity, such as wind, solar and purchased power, with the sector that is most likely to need and use it – the fast-growing large industrials. In exchange, industrial customers would receive a longer-term rate forecast for predictable budgeting.

Much work remains to be done before a final rate proposal will be ready to present by year-end, Andrew Grassell, senior manager of Product Development, Rates and Pricing and Energy Services, told commissioners. Further discussion, including monthly presentations during commission meetings, are planned. 

For more information see pages 1-8 in the commission packet. Hear the discussion at 49:03 on the commission audio.

Commissioners discuss large application fee changes 

During their regular meeting on Tuesday, June 24, Grant PUD Commissioners resumed their discussions with the Large Power Solutions Team over modifying application fees for large power-consuming customers. 

The Large Power Solutions team initially proposed that fees would cover about 40% of the eventual cost. After hearing concerns from customers and the commission about the expense coupled with unclear expectations over how quickly the Grant PUD team could respond to the applications, Wendell returned to the commissioners on Tuesday for further discussion and recommendations. 

One recommendation is to have fees cover about 20% of construction costs. In that scenario, a customer requesting 40 megawatts would pay $48,000 a megawatt for an application fee total of $1.92 million. Presently the application fee for 40 megawatts is $52,000 total.  

The increased application fees are seen as a primary way to reduce speculation in Grant PUD’s present application queue of more than 2,000 megawatts, Wendell said.   
“We want to get a commitment upfront so people will right-size their applications,” he said.  

Wendell said his team is looking at capacity reservation options, where customers would enter into an agreement with Grant PUD to reserve capacity specific to their requests. The Large Power Solution team is also exploring load-ramping plans with large-power customers so both entities understand what is expected when new power loads start coming online and how much energy will be available to them over time. 

The team will continue dialogue with the commission to find the right solutions and bring them to the commission for approval later this year.  

For more information see pages 33-47 of the presentation materials. Hear the full discussion at 3:16:57 on the commission recording. 

  

Moses Lake, Ephrata offices open longer starting in August

Cary West, Senior Manager of Customer Solutions, told the commission that the Moses Lake and Ephrata Grant PUD offices will be open five days a week for customer service, beginning Aug. 1.  

The Ephrata office is presently closed on Mondays, and the Moses Lake office is closed on Fridays. The Grant PUD call center, which is staffed by an all-local team of customer service representatives seven days a week from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m., has been achieving its goals for handling calls and first-call resolution, West said. However, a temporary shortage of customer service personnel has made it difficult for the team to achieve the goals of having 80% of calls answered in less than 5 minutes and 99% of calls answered in less than 10 minutes. Wait times become even longer during power outages. 

West said he expects the call center to improve in those two areas as newly hired customer service reps are trained and operating.  

For more information see pages 23-32 of the presentation materials. Hear the full discussion at 2:52:06 on the commission recording. 

 
External Affairs outlines community engagement plans 

The External Affairs team told commissioners about their plans for community engagement through the end of 2025 and beyond during their report. Chuck Allen, Senior Manager of External Affairs & Communications told the commission that the activities are intended to align with Grant PUD’s goal of “Caring for our communities through active engagement.” Plans include having a large presence at the Grant County Fair, developing a program for grade-school students to have field trips to Wanapum Dam, and a stronger public engagement strategy around large utility projects and key initiatives.   
For more information see pages 49-62 of the presentation materials. Hear the full discussion at 4:32:22 on the commission recording.  

Commissioners also:

-- Recognized the outstanding efforts of six employees from different parts of Grant PUD who worked with the Customer Experience Team to reduce the time needed for a residential customer to request new electrical service. Improvements include a simpler, digitized application form available in four languages, better communication, and a new service that allows customers to call in to get an estimated cost for their hookup. 

The effort builds on work Grant PUD’s Continuous Improvement Team began in 2024 and is expected to cut customer wait time roughly in half. Other efforts, including short, quarterly surveys to gauge customer satisfaction, are in the works. For more information see pages 13-20 in the commission packet. Hear the discussion at 1:21:45 and 2:04:45 on the commission audio. 

 
-- Unanimously approved Motion 3519, authorizing the general manager/CEO to increase by $152,900 an ongoing contract with Voith Hydro, Inc. for a new contract total of $14,844,715 to cover increased cost of stainless steel to repair worn parts on a turbine unit at Priest Rapids Dam. For more information see pages 8-12 in the commission packet. Hear the discussion at 2:39:28  on the commission audio.

-- Unanimously approved Motions 3520 and 3521, authorizing the general manager/CEO to execute two new 5-year contracts, one with the City of Mattawa for $160,500 and the other with the City of Grand Coulee for $165,000. Both contracts would preserve existing services that allow customers to pay their Grant PUD electric bills closer to home, at their city clerk's office. For more information see pages 13-38 in the commission packet. Hear the discussion at 2:44:41 on the commission audio.

-- Unanimously approved Motion 3522 for $152,318 to add six months to an existing contract with GE Management Services for a new contract total of $2,336,505. The extension is part of an ongoing project to modernize the software used by Grant PUD Dispatch to monitor and control the electric system. This part of the project is taking longer than expected due to technical issues with hardware that enables the new system to communicate with the outdated hardware at the substations. The request will be on the June 24, 2025 agenda for commission vote. For more information, see pages 39-46 of the presentation materials. Listen to the conversation at 2:48:47 on the commission audio.