Rates
Kittitas PUD Power Rates Increase
Ellensburg, WA – After multiple public meetings from July to September and completion of a cost-of-service study, the Kittitas Public Utility District Commissioners approved a 4.50% rate increase to retail rates during their regularly scheduled meeting on September 28, 2021 by signing Resolution No. 1120. The District increase is effective October 1, 2021 and is split between the “fixed” and “variable” components of each rate class. For a typical resident, the increase is about $7 per month.
District officials stated they purchase their power from Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) and in July 2021, BPA announced the new power and transmission rates for fiscal years 2022-2023, starting October 1, 2021. The effect of the BPA rate changes will vary from utility to utility throughout the region. The impact to the Kittitas Public Utility District is a 10.6% increase to transmission rates and a 1.7% decrease to wholesale power the District purchases from BPA.
The District rate increase covers the cost of the BPA rate changes, funds the continued investment in replacement of aging infrastructure and replenishes reserve funds used to repair system damages from the Clerf Road fire of 2021.
The District is a publicly owned non-profit entity committed to providing safe, reliable, cost-based electric service to meet the needs of our community. The District operates and maintains over seven hundred miles of line, five substations and four distribution points of delivery across the Kittitas County to serve nearly five thousand meters. Please contact our office if you have any questions.