The Wahkiakum County Eagle - Established as The Skamokawa Eagle in 1891

Wahkiakum Public Utility District commissioners held a second rate hearing for electric and both the Puget Island and Western Wahkiakum Water Systems (WWWS) at their regular meeting Tuesday morning, which they recessed for public hearings on rates later Tuesday and on Wednesday.

Retired PUD manager Mike Prever and prospective board commissioner Lee Tischer were the only members of the public present during the commissioners regularly scheduled meeting Tuesday morning. About seven Puget Island residents came to the evening session to share concerns, and to request that the costs be reduced as much as possible, Commissioner Bob Jungers said.

In opening remarks Tuesday morning, Commissioner Dennis Reid justified the proposed increases, noting electric rates had not increased since 2006.

The rate increase for power will be an additional $4 in the basic electric charge, and an additional $0.003 per kilowatt hour.

Puget Island Water System ratepayers will see a three percent increase to basic service charges and WWWS customers, a five percent increase. That translates to an increase of $1.50 for Puget Island water users, and $2.50 for WWWS, General Manager Dave Tramblie said.

Reid credited the hard work of managers and staff at keeping the rates from going up more.

“Fourteen years ago, the PUD’s rate was 100 percent higher than a neighboring PUDs’ rate, and now it is only 50 percent higher than nearby utilities,” he said.

Commissioners discussed the sharp increases other PUDs are facing, including an18 percent increase for Cowlitz PUD.

Commissioner Jungers said he thought the increases were reasonable and proper for the reasons Reid described.

General Manager Dave Tramblie described several steps the board had taken over the years to keep costs low, including eliminating two positions in 2008 and reducing administrative staff in 2003, leaving 12 on staff now.

In 2005, the PUD purchased a substation from Bonneville Power Administration for a saving of about $75,000 per year.

By building up reserves, the PUD will avoid $150,000 per year in debt service, Tramblie said.

Tramblie said the increased rates should cover the new water contract with the Town of Cathlamet, which could be resolved in the next few days.

Past manager Prever again offered to perform a rate cost analysis, but his offer was declined.

“I don’t think we will learn anything that would offset the time it would take staff to provide the information,” Tramblie said.

Board members discussed requests for belt-tightening received from the public in last week’s rate hearing.

Jungers questioned the wisdom of including a three percent increase in union wages in the budget, before negotiations were completed.

Commissioner Gene Healy said he felt there was downward pressure on wages from other PUDs, including some in Eastern Washington, such as Klickitat PUD.

“I think we should ask the union to volunteer to accept some of the austerity measures, we are taking,” Jungers said. “These are people who are knit into the community, …we can appeal to their community sensibilities.”

Tramblie explained that the PUD “tended to pay our linemen on a similar scale as our (PUD) neighbors; that’s our history.”

Tischer said he appreciated commissioners seeking to limit an increase in wages since US incomes had fallen over the past two years.

The board discussed health insurance costs for the commissioners and their families at Commissioner Bob Jungers’ suggestion.

Reid said, “I’m not in a hurry to lose my benefits. I might be in favor if there was a way for me to continue to pay for vision and dental coverage. That would help.”

Healy said, “If $260,000 is budgeted for healthcare, that’s too much. That has to come down….Some of us can remember when nobody had it (health insurance), but now it’s a right of passage. But those costs ultimately have to be reduced.”

He noted if the commissioners declined insurance coverage, the PUD would save about $42,000 in insurance costs. The utility is insured through a pool, while there are no premiums per individual member, the PUD has budgeted about $600 per month per person covered.

The board asked for costs over the past five years to evaluate trends. Wilson said it’s hard to get data since each year is different based on usage by members and that privacy information prevented her from providing details. Tramblie said costs fluctuate significantly, based on whether someone had a serious illness in a given year.

Jungers asked for information about different insurance packages for commissioners, which might include major medical coverage for catastrophic events instead of a “Cadillac insurance plan.”

Community member Tischer asked if there were other options within the pool for types of coverage, like the options available to county employees. Wilson said that the PUD board sets coverage and deductibles for the pool to implement.

The commissioners plan to gather more information and continue the discussion.

In other business, Tramblie reported that he and Jim Jesperson, water manager, had reviewed the state-mandated Western Wahkiakum Water System Plan and would forward it to the Washington State Department of Health following engineers’ review.

BPA has completed work on a switch at the Driscoll Substation near the entrance to Wauna, which is intended to decrease outages caused by problems in Oregon.

Auditor Erin Wilson reported the PUD has spent the $44,952 BPA allowed for rebates for ductless heat pumps and insulation, and has received an additional $49,000 for next year.

Wilson said customers donated $260 for residential energy assistance last month; $300 is available to those in need.

The commissioners recessed until 6 p.m. for an evening rate hearing in Cathlamet. A rate hearing at the Rosburg Hall was scheduled for 6 p.m yesterday (Wednesday).