Okanogan PUD proposes alternative rate structure

General Manager Steve Taylor said that the district is still considering a 3.25 percent overall average revenue increase, but he proposed that customer bills be adjusted to show all taxes that the district is required to collect. The district pays a state privilege tax of 2.14 percent and state public utility tax of 3.8734 percent on all power sales currently. Any city-based taxes collected by the district are in addition to those amounts.

On an example bill, the average residential customer uses 1,400 kilowatt-hours monthly, amounting to about $111. If the district were to raise rates to highlight the state tax amounts, it would be approximately $6 more per month. Taylor said that would be more than the rate increase proposed, so the kWh charge could be reduced to avoid the additional burden to ratepayers. If the tax portion were shown on the bill, then customers could better understand where their dollars go – the district pays about $2.8 million to state taxes annually.

“If taxes are imposed by somebody else, I think they should get credit for it,” Commissioner Jerry Asmussen said.

The district has been considering rate increases to go into effect April 1, 2021, to keep up with the increasing costs the district faces. A public hearing regarding the budget and rates continues to be open through at least two more board meetings in December.

The board will meet early at 2 p.m. for an additional work session to discuss rate adjustment options on Dec. 7, followed by the regular 3 p.m. meeting.

More information about board meetings and past discussions are available on the district’s website, www.okanoganpud.org. Meetings are being conducted via Zoom due to pandemic restrictions.

In other business, the board:

• Heard reports of theft of district materials from burn areas, including at a customer pump station. Customers are asked to report any suspicious activity to police; handling of any district materials is still a safety hazard, even in the burn areas.

• Heard that bids for steel poles and construction of the Okanogan-Brewster transmission line replacement should go out in mid-December. The work is planned to begin in April.

• Congratulated Don Coppock, retired director of finance and accounting, on earning the William T. Elmgren Public Service Award through the Washington PUD Association. The award will be presented virtually in December, recognizing Coppock’s 27 years of service to the PUD, as well as his community service.

• Heard that retail power sales were nearly right on budget for September, just slightly better than anticipated. Year-to-date, however, retail power sales have been $1.8 million under budgeted amounts, due to mild weather resulting in low power usage, Director of Power Resources and Broadband Services Ron Gadeberg said. Wholesale power sales have been a bit better than budgeted year-to-date, bringing the power sale totals to $1.4 million under budgeted amounts.

• Heard from Gadeberg that broadband continues to grow, with Nov. 1 billing of more than $285,000. The system now has a total of 3,607 connections, 540 of which are direct fiber.

• Heard budget reports in an evening meeting, including O&M trends from Director of Finance and Accounting Janet Crossland, human resources from HR Manager Katie Pfitzer, information systems from Manager Jerry Day and broadband from Manager John MacDonald. Only slight changes are expected in the 2021 budgets, except broadband intends to increase its capital spending to build out more fiber in local communities.