A scheduled rate increase for Grant PUD customers will start April 1 to counter inflation-fueled increases in costs on everything from wire and transformers to office supplies, plus cover increasing utility operational and capital requirements.
The new rates will also reflect a new, long-term rate-setting strategy adopted by the commission last year that ensures residential, irrigation, ag and general service/small business customers receive priority access to the utility’s lowest-cost electricity – its hydropower.
These “core customer” rate groups will see an average 3.5% increase. For residential customers, the average monthly electric bill will increase by approximately $3.60.
Other customer groups, including the larger energy-consuming customers who are driving increased demand for electricity, will pay the higher cost of the infrastructure and the additional energy resources needed to supply their demand.
These more energy-intense groups will receive an average increase of 9.5% but will share the benefit of any lowest-cost power not needed to supply core groups.
All customers will see changes to the cost section of their bills, with additional line items indicating where the power they’re paying for is coming from. Learn more about changes to the bill at grantpud.org///www.grantpud.org/about-your-bill.
The actual rate increase for each customer class is as follows:
Rate 1- Residential: 3.4% Rate 14 – Industrial: 8.5%
Rate 2- General Service: 3.5% Rate 15 – Large Industrial: 8.1%
Rate 3 – Irrigation: 2.7% Rate 16 – Ag. Food Processing: 9.2%
Rate 3b - Ag. Services: 3.5% Rate 17 – Evolving Industry: 10.6%
Rate 6 – Street Lighting: 3.5% Rate 19 – Fast EV Charging: 11.1%
Rate 7 – Lg. General Service: 10.7% Rate 85 – Ag Boiler: 9.5%
Even with the rate changes for 2026, Grant PUD’s residential power price per kilowatt hour will be less than half of the Washington State average and about one-third of the national average.
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3/17/2026 commission workshop recap:
Commissioners begin staff discussion for 2027 rate planning
Grant PUD’s rate-setting policy already ensures core customers get priority access to the utility’s lowest-cost electricity – its hydropower – to protect them from paying for grid upgrades and new generation costs driven by industrial growth.
Staff and commissioners discussed ideas to further that protection by creating new or modified rate classes for data centers, agricultural services and public-service customers, including government offices, hospitals and schools.
Commissioners got a first look at some of the staff rate proposals during their March 17 workshop. Proposals are still in their early phase and will be subject to commission discussion and public comment throughout the year.
Proposed changes are intended to better protect core customers from industrial-driven costs and to simplify and better align rate schedules with the new forward-looking pricing strategy, Jeremy Stewart, manager of Rates and Pricing, told commissioners.
See the full presentation on pages 1-15 of the March 17 commission workshop presentation materials. Commission workshops are not recorded.
Commissioners also:
- Heard from Terry McKenzie, director of Telecom and Fiber Services that maintenance and upgrades to improve the fiber network’s stability and reliability will continue to be the focus moving forward. See the full presentation on pages 54-64 of the March 17 commission workshop presentation materials.
- Received a short update on efforts made to communicate with customers about changes coming to their electric bills, starting with the April 1 rate increase and billing cycle. See the full presentation on pages 16-20 of the March 17 commission workshop presentation materials.
- Received a business update from Andy Wendell, vice president of Customer Experience about ongoing plans to manage customer growth, strengthen system planning and improve customer awareness. See the full presentation on pages 21-30 of the March 17 commission workshop presentation materials.
- Discussed with Government Affairs staffers recent engagements and upcoming commission interactions. See the full presentation on pages 42-53 of the March 17 commission workshop presentation materials.
- Commissioners reviewed the work and plan for Grant PUD’s Open Access Transmission Tariff (OATT) and tariff plan’s required technology and system improvements. Grant PUD will take public comment on the proposed OATT at the March 24 commission business meeting. A commission vote for final approval is scheduled for April 2. See the full presentation on pages 65-77 of the March 17 commission workshop presentation materials.