Published January 2004

PUD holds rates steady

SCBJ Staff

Rates for Snohomish County PUD customers will not go up in 2004 despite a rate hike by the PUD’s largest electricity supplier.

The PUD commission adopted a no-rate-hike 2004 budget in December that, at $573 million, toes the line on expenses by not filling open positions and by hiring less outside help.

The spike in energy costs was offset in part by a high new-connection rate, with 6,300 new homes or businesses wired into the PUD’s system this year. Estimates are for at least that many more in 2004.

A 2.2 percent rate increase that the Bonneville Power Administration passed on to the PUD Oct. 1 will cost about $7 million in 2004, the main reason the 2004 budget is $9 million larger than 2003, said Glenn McPherson, the PUD’s assistant general manager of finance.

Cuts to the budget for hiring consultants and outside contractors will save the utility $4.5 million, McPherson said. The board also voted to not fill 14 open positions, a $1 million savings that will have the district’s employee count drop to 891, down from 905 in 2003.

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