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OUR OPINION
As the public information officer for Pend Oreille Public Utility District, it’s my responsibility to make sure that information about rates is clear, accurate and easy to understand.
The PUD’s Board of Commissioners recently approved a 2.5% adjustment to revenue in an effort to keep pace with inflation and rising operating costs while maintaining system reliability and safety. This does not mean every customer’s kilowatt-hour rate, or total bill, increases by exactly 2.5%.
A revenue adjustment simply means the PUD must collect 2.5% more revenue overall to cover rising costs. How that translates to an individual customer’s bill depends on usage and rate class. For a residential customer using 1,000 kilowatt-hours per month, the expected increase is about $2.24 per month, or 2.2%. A customer using 2,020 kWh per month can expect an increase of $4.53 per month, or 2.7%.
A recent letter to the editor focused on the change to the energy charge, showing an approximate 3.3% increase in that specific component. While that figure is accurate for the energy portion of the residential rate, it does not represent the total bill. A customer’s bill has multiple components, including a flat monthly service availability charge that has not changed, so the overall impact varies based on how much electricity is used. We are expecting that a residential customer will see an average increase of $3.25 on their monthly bill, but the total could be less or more than that. The PUD has explained how these numbers work through public meetings, communications and a public hearing, and we remain committed to providing clear and accurate information.
We’re here to help if you have questions about how this change impacts your bill. Just give us a call or swing by our office, and we’ll be glad to walk through the details.
We also know that any increase matters, especially at a time when costs seem to be rising in nearly every part of daily life. Our goal is to keep any rate adjustments as minimal and predictable as possible while continuing to provide safe, reliable service to our community.
