Grant PUD to host public hearings on proposed rate increases, clean-energy targets

EPHRATA -- Come share your thoughts Dec. 9, 2025, when Grant PUD commissioners host two public hearings. One hearing focuses on 2026 rate increases and a 10-year trajectory to cover projected inflation and production costs. The other hearing will set the utility’s state-mandated conservation targets.

Both hearings take place in the commission room at Grant PUD headquarters, 30 C Street SW, Ephrata. The energy-conservation hearing begins at 1 p.m., during the business section of the meeting, followed by a commission vote.

The electric-rate hearing begins at 2 p.m. and launches a public-comment period through Dec. 23, 2025, after which commissioners will vote on the proposed increase. Comments may be made during the hearing or electronically at www.grantpud.org/commission-meetings#Rate-Hearing-2026. New rates would take effect April 1, 2026, pending a commission vote early next year.

The rate-increase proposal is based on a longstanding policy that the customers who “cause the cost, bear the cost.” What’s new is a rate-setting strategy that gives priority access to the utility's lowest-cost power – currently, Grant PUD hydropower – to residential, agricultural and small business customers (“core customers”).

As drivers of energy demand, the utility’s largest, most intense power users will pay for the  higher-cost energy and the infrastructure to supply them. These costs would be offset by any low-cost, Grant PUD hydropower not needed for core customers. Rates for all customers will remain competitive with others in the region. Learn more about the proposal in the latest commission recap here.

The energy-conservation hearing is a state requirement for commissioners to review and adopt Grant PUD’s 10-year energy-conservation potential and biennial conservation target for 2026-2027. The state’s Energy Independence Act, the result of voter-approved I-937, requires a 10-year potential and biennial target be developed every two years. After the public hearing commissioners are scheduled to vote.

Questions about either hearing? Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.