Higher electricity rates proposed for 55,000 Tri-Cities area residents and businesses

Residents with electricity from Benton PUD would pay an average of about $6 more for electricity per month if a proposed rate hike is approved, says the utility.

It is proposing a 5% rate hike that would increase the bill for the average residential customer from $115 to $121 a month starting April 1.

The increase would be spread over the three categories for which residential categories are billed. The basic charge would go up 2 cents a day to 66 cents and the kilowatt-hour rate would increase from 6.88 cents to 7.22 cents.

In fall 2023 Benton PUD also started billing a surcharge based on the hour with the highest use of electricity during the PUD’s weekday winter morning and winter and summer evening hours with the highest demand for electricity. That demand charge is proposed to increase from $1 per kilowatt-hour to $1.05 per kilowatt-hour.

The 2023 change was intended to collect the same amount of money from customers, but encourage them to use electricity during times when demand was lower.

The public utility district says its current proposal would be its first electricity rate increase since October 2019, when the average residential customer began paying about $3 more each month.

Commercial customers also would see a 5% increase under the current proposal.

Why a rate increase

“The primary drivers for the proposed rate increase are rising costs of materials, labor and power supply,” the PUD said in an announcement of the proposal Monday.

The cost of some equipment the PUD needs has jumped 200% since 2019, it said. The Consumer Price Index has increased about 20% over the same time period.

In addition, the Bonneville Power Administration, which supplies electricity to the PUD, is proposing a 9.8% rate increase for power generation and a 21% increase for transmission starting in October. It is paying more for materials and labor.

Benton PUD has been able to avoid rate increases in recent years by steps such as using excess cash reserves and issuing municipal bonds to pay for capital programs, it said.

The proposed rate hike would still leave the average residential customer paying less than the median $136 per month at other comparable Northwest utilities, the PUD said.

The Franklin PUD last raised its residential rate in 2024 and said then that the average residential bill would be $132 per month.

The PUD forecasts that BPA rates will continue to increase for the foreseeable future, and more PUD rate increases will be needed over the next several years.

About half of the Benton PUD’s budget most years goes to the Bonneville Power Administration.

Customers who want to know more about the proposed increase may attend a rate information meeting 5:30 p.m. Feb. 13 at the Benton PUD Auditorium, 2721 W. 10th Ave., Kennewick.

The meeting also will be live streamed. For information about watching or listening to the meeting remotely, go to bentonpud.org.

Benton PUD has about 55,000 customers in Kennewick, Finley, Benton City, Prosser and outlying areas.