PORT TOWNSEND — The Jefferson County Public Utility District commissioners have approved electric rate increases averaging about 4.25 percent per year across all customer bases.
Most residential customers will see only a base charge increase of $2.50 a month starting with the July 5 billing cycle. Consumption rates will increase about 4.4 percent each year through 2024 starting in 2022.
The commissioners unanimously approved the electric rate charges during their Tuesday night meeting.
The base fee for the majority of residential customers is currently $18.50. Starting July 5, the monthly fee will rise to $21 and continue to increase in 2022 to $23.50, in 2023 to $26 and in 2024 to $28.50, according to PUD documents.
In earlier drafts of the electric rate proposal, consumption rates increased on average across all customers by 3 percent this year, followed by a 7 percent increase in 2022 and 3.5 percent increases in both 2023 and 2024.
But the commissioners changed the average increases to be more consistent, with a 4 percent increase this year, followed by 4.25 percent increases in 2022, 2023 and 2024, Will O’Donnell, communications director, said Wednesday.
A third tier of residential customer class was added for consumption costs, for residents using more than 1,600 kilowatt hours (kWh) — 1,000 watts per one hour — which will have a new rate charge of $0.1218 per kWh starting the July 5 billing cycle, and will increase to $0.1254 in 2022, $0.1293 in 2023 and $0.1334 starting in 2024, according to commission documents.
All rate increases will take effect during the July 5 billing cycle of each year, since the billing cycle for the PUD ends normally each month on the fourth, O’Donnell said.
The two other tiers of residential customers will not have an increase in rates this year, but increases of about 4.4 percent are planned each following year through 2024.
Tier 1 residential customers who use 600 kWh or less a month are charged $0.0882 per kWh currently. In 2022, the rate will rise to $0.0908; in 2023, to $0.0936; and in 2024, to $0.0966, according to PUD documents.
Tier 2 residential customers who use between 601 and 1,600 kWh a month are charged $0.1070 per kWh currently. In 2022, the rate will rise to $0.1102, then to $0.01136 in 2023 and $0.1172 in 2024, according to PUD documents.
For the PUD customer using an average of 1,000 kWh per month, the electrical increase would raise average monthly prices from $114.22 to $116.72 for 2021 for the base charge.
During each year’s budget process, the PUD will evaluate the rate changes to make sure they’re still appropriate, O’Donnell said.
“In good faith, we will definitely keep track on this and have staff reporting to us,” said Dan Toepper, commission chair, during Tuesday’s meeting.
In addition to the electric rate increases, the PUD also has raised water rates starting next year. More information on those changes can be found at https://tinyurl.com/PDN-PUDWaterRates.
The commissioners approved the water rate increase on April 20 after their consultant, FCS Group, reported that expenses for water and sewer services in 2020 overtook revenues, and while it’s expected that the 2021 budget for electricity will be $1.6 million in the black, a $400,000 shortfall from water services is anticipated, O’Donnell said.
In addition to filling the funding shortfall in the water side of the PUD, the electric increases also will help fund repairs and replacements of current systems that are failing, O’Donnell said.
“We really needed this to happen for the water department … our water budget was just getting tighter and tighter, and we were losing money,” O’Donnell said. “It been great moving forward on increasing the water rates, to move forward on those capital improvements and provide the high level of paid service our customers deserve.
“On the electric side, we bought an old system and there’s a lot improvements that still need to be made and a lot of repairs,” he added.
“These rate adjustments put us in a better position over the long term to continue to upgrade and improve our systems and provide the existing or improved levels of reliability our customers deserve.”
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Jefferson County reporter Zach Jablonski can be reached at 360-385-2335, ext. 5, or at zjablonski@peninsuladailynews.com.
