Commission workshop, 3/10/2026 -- Low rates, reliable service, clean-energy pillars of 20-year resource plan 

Work is underway to create Grant PUD’s next, state-mandated Integrated Resource Plan, which describes how the utility will meet customers’ demand for electricity from 2027 to 2046, while maintaining reliable service in compliance with the state’s clean-energy requirements at the lowest electric rates possible.

Grant PUD analysts have collected the appropriate data and are now running the computer models to reveal the cost and feasibility of everything from new sources of electrical generation and energy storage to continued power-purchase agreements and financial impacts, Rich Flanigan, vice president of Energy Supply and Markets told commissioners.

Staff will seek both commission and public comment on the eventual draft of the plan before it goes to a final vote of the commission, prior to the Sept. 1 deadline.

The power produced by Grant PUD’s Columbia River dams, Priest Rapids and Wanapum, are no longer enough to fulfill customers’ needs, especially during times of peak demand. The utility has already signed three agreements for 460 megawatts of solar power and 260 MW of battery storage, which will be available late in 2027 and early 2028.

In the shorter term, purchases of electricity on the wholesale market and shorter-term power-purchase agreements, combined with existing hydropower and the planned-for solar, are forecast to be enough to meet customer demand, Flanigan said. 

In the longer term, Grant PUD analysts continue to study additional solar power, battery storage, geothermal energy, pumped-storage hydropower, wind and various forms of natural gas, as well as a nuclear plant based on small, modular reactor technology.

(Note: Grant PUD Commissioners have adopted a rate-setting policy where residential, small commercial/general service, and agricultural customers receive Grant PUD’s hydropower generation, which is the utility’s lowest-cost resource. Large-power consuming customers will pay for higher-cost power generation. Read more here.)

See the full presentation on pages 1-12 of the workshop presentation materials. Commission workshops are not recorded. 

 
Commissioners also:

-- Heard an update on efforts to develop a Grant PUD-wide software system to greatly improve efficiency and customer service by streamlining systems, processes, data sharing and the software to manage it all. Some three years in the planning and contractor-selection process, the early phases of the conversion have begun in the Finance Department. The phased-in launch for Customer Service is slated to begin in April, followed by the roll-out for Human Resources and Asset Management

Total project cost has yet to be determined and will be based on the amount of work eventually needed, Project Manager John Mullen and Vice President of Technology Charles Meyer told commissioners. See the full presentation on pages 13-22 of the workshop presentation materials. Commission workshops are not recorded. 

-- Heard that the Asset Management team will be hiring another manager/analyst in their ongoing efforts to get as much value possible out of all Grant PUD physical assets. Their work to understand stock levels and expected lifespans of these assets and make this information universally available to Grant PUD staffers will save money through better-informed purchasing, more efficient use of labor and financial resources and reduced waste, Russ Seiler, Senior Manager of Asset Management told commissioners. See the full presentation on pages 23-36 of the workshop presentation materials. Commission workshops are not recorded.