The Star - News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area

One of the most important aspects of our work as PUD commissioners is communicating with those we serve. We recognize that the decisions we make as a board have a direct impact on families, farms and businesses in Grant County. As we move closer to adopting our 2013 budget and potentially determining how rates will increase, we want to reassure you that we take these decisions seriously and are doing our best to meet our customer’s needs.

Following budget hearings and meetings with individual customer groups, we have reviewed our budget further and looked for areas of reduction where possible. After much deliberation, I believe that we as a board have a budget that we will be able to adopt in the coming weeks. Along with a decision on our budget, we are also looking at how best to distribute necessary rate increases in the coming days.

Adopting a budget and examining the need for a rate increase is a delicate balancing act. As commissioners, we have a duty to update essential equipment which allows us to safely and reliably generate and deliver energy, yet we need to accomplish these updates in a way that doesn’t place too much of a strain on your pocketbooks. No matter what action we take, our commitment is that we will work together to be considerate to the needs of all customers no matter what rate schedule they may fall within.

We realize that our decisions impact your finances, which is why it’s important that you voice your concerns and provide us the opportunity to hear from you. We invite you to join us during one of our business meetings or to email us at commissioners@gcpud.org.