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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