Rick Dunn, General ManagerAs a consumer-owned not-for-profit utility, Benton PUD exists solely to operate in the best interest of our customers. And we know affordable, reliable, and environmentally responsible electricity is critical to your health, safety, and well-being.

One of our highest priorities is to keep retail rates as low as possible while maintaining high value services. That’s why it has been so gratifying for Benton PUD staff and Commissioners  to achieve a 0% increase in our rates since 2019, knowing during the same time period our customers were experiencing financial pressures caused by historically high inflation rates and an increase in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) of nearly 23%.

While prudent financial planning, strategic use of cash reserves, and responsible use of low-interest debt (municipal bonds) has enabled Benton PUD to hold the line on rates for more than five years, cumulative cost increases for goods and services during this period finally reached levels that drove our expenses above retail electricity revenues.  As a consequence, Benton PUD’s Board of Commissioners made the decision to approve a 5% retail rate increase effective April 1, 2025. While cost increases are never welcomed by consumers, there is good news we hope Benton PUD customers will keep in mind, and that is how our power supply portfolio anchored by abundant and low-cost hydro and nuclear power helps us deliver uniquely reliable and affordable electricity.

For perspective, Benton PUD continually compares our residential rates to representative utilities located throughout the Northwest. Over the past decade, our rates have been well below the statistical middle (median), and in our most recent assessment in late 2024, Benton PUD had the lowest residential rates of any of the 31 benchmark utilities we compare to. So, the good news is that even with a 5% rate increase, our rates will continue to remain well below the median. 

Additionally, electric utility rate increases across the Northwest continue to be in the headlines, with some utilities implementing consecutive double-digit percentage increases. Like all utilities, Benton PUD has experienced increases in labor and supply-chain costs, with prices of some standard equipment necessary to safely operate and maintain our electricity delivery systems increasing between 200% and 600% since 2020.    

Looking forward, while our wholesale costs for baseload power continue to be some of the lowest in the nation, the incremental costs for electricity generation we incur to add more customers and accommodate economic development are on the rise. Benton PUD along with 127 other not-for-profit utilities across the Northwest receive our wholesale electricity supply from the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA). BPA is a federal agency and wholesale power marketer responsible for selling and transmitting electricity generated by 31 hydro-electric dams included in the Federal Columbia River Power System (FCRPS), along with nuclear power from Columbia Generating Station (CGS). While BPA has kept past wholesale rate increases to a minimum, they are now facing substantial cost pressures and are proposing a 9.8% rate increase for generating electricity (power) and a 21% rate increase for transmission beginning October 2025. BPA will make its final decision later this summer regarding rate increases.

For perspective, in a typical year the cost of BPA power represents over 50% of Benton PUD’s entire expense budget, which means an increase in BPA costs have a direct and significant impact on our retail rates. Benton PUD expects BPA’s rates will continue an upward trend for the foreseeable future as they fund critically important capital investments in FCRPS and CGS turbines and generators which will drive what we hope will be relatively modest increases in our retail rates over the next several years.

Benton PUD supports investments in hydro and nuclear power which are needed now more than ever as the small inventory of coal-fired power plants in the Pacific Northwest are shut down and natural-gas plants are throttled back in response to carbon-free energy policies in Washington and Oregon. Benton PUD will continue to advocate for keeping every drop of hydropower we enjoy today in place for decades to come while engaging politically to push for moderation of draconian energy policies we believe are unnecessarily increasing the cost of electricity and jeopardizing power grid reliability.

On behalf of Benton PUD’s employees and our elected Commissioners, thank you for putting your trust in us and for the privilege of continuing the 79-year tradition of publicly owned and locally controlled power in the communities we serve.

Sincerely,

Rick Dunn, General Manager 

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