PORT TOWNSEND — The Jefferson County PUD board of commissioners passed a fee rate schedule which will increase the cost of electricity starting July 5.
The decision to increase rates comes at the end of an iterative cost of service analysis performed by FCS Group. The analysis started at the end of 2023, according to Paul Quinn, an FCS project manager who presented to the board at a public hearing Monday.
The increased rates are planned to be phased in incrementally through 2028, Quinn said.
The system-wide average of the increase, across all customer classes, is planned to be 9 percent this year and 6.75 percent annually in 2026, 2027 and 2028.
“An average residential bill, assuming 1,000 kilowatt hours of monthly usage, currently, that would come up with about $133 in terms of the monthly bill total,” Quinn said. “With the proposed adjustments, a typical residential bill would see anywhere from about a $10 increase per month to a $12 increase per month.”
Cost of service will increase at a higher-than-average rate for residential customers, as the group is currently paying less than cost of service, according to Quinn’s presentation.
For residents, the phased-in increases will go up 9.01 percent in 2025, 7.31 percent in 2026, 7.28 percent in 2027 and 7.25 percent in 2028.
Over the course of the next four years, the cumulative increase will amount to 34.59 percent, or about a $45 increase per month for the average residential customer.
The base charge will increase as well, with a $5 increase in 2025, followed by $3 increases per year through 2028, Quinn said.
Including the base charge, the difference in an average residential customer’s bill from now until 2028, if FCS’ proposal is continually adhered to, is about $59. That’s going from an average customer’s monthly bill of $133 to $192.
Commissioner Jeff Randall acknowledged that the cumulative increase in cost of electricity could be difficult for customers.
“These will have an impact,” Randall said. “I hope, as we go forward, that things change and we don’t need to implement these 6.75 and 7 percent increases down the road, that we will have a chance to revisit them. If we don’t need to implement the full rate increases, I hope we don’t have to, because they are very heavy, and I’ll leave it at that.”
Jefferson County resident Tom Thiersch addressed the board of commissioners in a public comment.
“You’re talking about a really massive increase,” Thiersch said. “You know, 30-ish percent increase in cost to the customer. That’s a very large increase, considering that inflation is currently pretty well under control. In fact, we are likely headed into a recession toward the end of this year. It’s going to be very painful. I don’t know that there’s anything you can do about it, but it is going to be very, very painful for a lot of folks.”
The increased prices are necessary to meet the infrastructure needs facing the utility, General Manager Kevin Streett said. The PUD identified $100 million in capital improvements over the next 10 years and, more recently, a more than $68 million need for capital improvements between this year and 2028.
“These (increased rates) are needed,” Streett said. “It’s going to make the utility’s reliability increase.”
In addition to raising the rates, FCS suggested pursuing $39 million in Rural Utilities Services dollars to fund capital improvements.
“That would help fund the $68.6 million capital plan projects over the four-year period,” Quinn said.
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Reporter Elijah Sussman can be reached by email at elijah.sussman@sequimgazette.com.
