CORRECTION — The date for the Sequim meeting is corrected.
PORT ANGELES — Clallam County Public Utility District staff have proposed a 3 percent electric rate increase, and PUD officials want the public to know why.
Four public meetings — in Port Angeles, Sequim, Forks and Sekiu — are planned next week on the proposal, which follows the Bonneville Power Administration’s 8 percent wholesale power rate increase.
A 3 percent electric rate increase amounts to about $3.30 per month for a residential customer.
Where and when
The one-hour meetings will be held:
■ Monday at 1:30 p.m. in the regular PUD commissioners’ meeting room at the PUD’s main office, 2431 E. U.S. Highway 101, Port Angeles.
■ Tuesday at 10 a.m. at JT’s Sweet Stuffs, 80 N. Forks Ave, Forks.
■ Tuesday at 1 p.m. at the Sekiu Community Center, 42 Rice St., Sekiu.
■ Thursday, Dec. 8, at 3 p.m. at the Sequim Library, 630 N. Sequim Ave., Sequim.
In response to BPA
PUD officials said the proposed rate increase is in response to the BPA wholesale rate increase and continued pressures from the rising costs of materials, operations, maintenance and technology.
In addition, renewable-energy mandates — such as those from the Washington Energy Independence Act, which voters approved in 2006 as Initiative 937 — are beginning to take their toll, PUD spokesman Michael Howe said.
The PUD plans to present information on outside pressures and PUD cost controls at the public meetings.
They will conclude with time for questions and comments from the public.
PUD commissioners will vote on the proposal Dec. 12 or 19.
For more information on the Clallam County PUD, visit www.clallampud.net.
