Grant PUD eyeing multiple projects in '24 budget

Cheryl Schweizer, Columbia Basin Herald, Moses Lake, Wash.
·2 min read

Sep. 25—EPHRATA — Grant County Public Utility District customers will be invited to review and comment on the 2024 budget at three public hearings Oct. 10 and 12.

In-person hearings are scheduled for 2 p.m. Oct. 10 at the PUD commission hearing room at the main office in Ephrata, 30 C St. SW, and 6 p.m. Oct. 12 in the auditorium in the Moses Lake office, 312 W. Third Ave. A virtual hearing will be held Oct. 10 at 6 p.m. The link to the online meeting is available in a press release under the "News" tab on the PUD website, www.grantpud.org.

Utility district staff will present the preliminary budget and explain the considerations that go into it. The preliminary budget projects an average 2.5% rate increase.

"Budget staffers are still studying the size of the proposed increase and how it would affect each customer category," wrote Christine Pratt, PUD public affairs officer, in a press release.

While the overall rate increase is projected at 2.5%, individual customer classes might see higher or lower increases.

The preliminary budget projects expenses at $466.5 million. That's an increase of about $15 million over the estimated expenses for 2023.

Projected expenses include $25.4 million to continue upgrading the turbines at Priest Rapids Dam and $13.3 million to continue refurbishing its generators. The upgrades at Priest Rapids began in 2016; each of the 10 generator-turbine combinations takes about 14 months to complete.

Utility district officials will start working on the relocation of the PUD maintenance yard in Ephrata in 2024. Project design is scheduled for 2024-25 and the budgeted cost for 2024 is about $24.4 million. Construction is expected to begin sometime in 2025 and be completed in 2027. The new maintenance facility, called a "service center," will be built southwest of Ephrata on a larger lot than the existing facility off Nat Washington Way.

Finishing the buildout of the PUD's fiber network is projected to cost $18.8 million. That will be the end of a project started in 2008.

About $17.4 million is projected for the construction of the Red Rock transmission line to the Royal City area. A transmission line is scheduled for relocation in the Stratford Road-Larson area, which is projected to cost about $8.9 million.

The Ruff substation near Moses Lake is scheduled for upgrades, projected to cost about $6.6 million. Additional work on the left embankment at Priest Rapids Dam is projected to cost about $1.5 million.

Costs for planning and design of a transmission line from Wanapum Dam to Quincy are projected at $2.6 million. About $4 million has been budgeted to build distribution lines for new customers.

Cheryl Schweizer may be reached via email at cschweizer@columbiabasinherald.com.