A Lewis County P.U.D sign hangs on display in Chehalis on Tuesday.
The Lewis County Public Utility District (PUD) held its second rate hearing on Tuesday, at which staff proposed a 3.4 percent increase in the energy consumption charge for residential accounts in 2021. The board held off on approving the rate increase to allow more time to hear from the public. The PUD calculated that since the demand charge of 95 cents is planned to remain the same, the average residential customer (using 1,400 kWh per month) should see about a 2.6 percent increase or $3.32 on their bill.
After the rate hearing, there were no public comments written in, submitted via Zoom or from those attending the hearing at the Chehalis or Morton auditoriums. PUD Commissioner Ben Kostick proposed that the window for public comment be left open until the morning of the commission’s next meeting on Oct. 20. Commissioners Ed Rothlin and Tim Cournyer agreed.
“I’m a little surprised that there is not more public comment or participation in the meeting today. Instead of taking any action at this time, I would propose that we leave the public comment open,” said Kostick after the hearing.
A 3.8 percent increase to the demand charge was also presented, which is a charge that gets added to accounts who use over 50-kilowatt hours of electricity. The per-day basic charge of 95 cents is planned to remain the same. The increased demand charge will only affect large commercial and industrial use customers, according to the PUD Public Affairs Manager Willie Painter.
The proposed commercial energy consumption rate increase is 3.4 percent for residential accounts and 9.9 percent for 2nd tier commercial accounts.
The PUD raised rates by 4.75 percent in 2020.
The PUD identified the factors driving the rate increase as capital projects investment, contract tree trimming, added system activity, customer growth, large customer loss and lower retail sales.
On Sept. 15, the commissioners approved the 2021-22 budget which identified about a $2 million deficit. PUD General Manager Chris Roden said that the COVID-19 pandemic has affected the PUD’s revenue and the rate increase will help offset the revenue losses.
“We have a few major factors driving retail sales assumptions. One, first and foremost, is COVID-19, there’s a lot of uncertainty about this. Unfortunately, seeing the number of business closures locally, it is having a damping effect on retail sales estimates into the future,” said Roden during the budget hearing.
The PUD also addressed the LED lighting rate changes. Since the LED lights have lower power and maintenance costs the rate for lighting will decrease by about 30 percent in 2021.
After all public comments and questions are addressed at the Oct. 20 meeting, the first reading of the new rate resolution will take place on Nov. 3. It is subject to change but as planned the commissioners should take action on the new rate resolution on Nov. 17 and the new rates would go into effect on Jan. 1, 2021, if approved.
More information on the rate hearing and the approved 2020-21 budget can be found on the PUD’s website — www.lcpud.org. Written comments from the public, to be read at the next rate hearing, can be submitted via email to execadmin@lcpud.org or by mail to PO Box 330, Chehalis, WA 98532.
The PUD is also making a transition from bi-monthly to monthly billing in phases — some customers will start receiving monthly billing this month and all PUD customers will be transferred over to monthly billing by the end of the year.
Editor's Note: A previous edition of this story incorrectly stated the percent rate increase that is proposed and the deficit in the PUD's 2021 budget.
