Proposed 2026 Electric Rate Adjustment
Pend Oreille PUD is proposing a 3% revenue adjustment to electric rates to keep pace with rising operating costs and maintain system reliability and safety. This does not mean your kWh rate, or your bill, will automatically go up by 3%. A revenue adjustment simply means the PUD needs to collect 3% more overall to keep up with rising costs. How much your bill changes depends on how much electricity you use and which rate class you’re in. For residential customers using an average of 1,500 kWh per month, the impact will be about $4.00 a month.
Our goal is to keep any changes as small, steady and as easy on your budget as we can, while making sure we can continue delivering safe, reliable power for you and your family.
The Board of Commissioners will consider approval on March 17, 2026. If approved, new rates would take effect April 1, 2026.
Why We’re Proposing This Adjustment
Rising Operating Costs
Inflation continues to increase the cost of materials, fuel, equipment and services. The PUD’s expenses are rising by roughly $460,000 per year. By comparison, a 1% rate adjustment generates about $200,000 in revenue. Without modest adjustments, expenses outpace revenue.
Future Power Supply Costs
Purchased power costs are projected to increase significantly around 2030 due to contract changes and state clean energy requirements. Without gradual planning, customers could face a single-year rate spike of more than 20%, according to the PUD’s long-term financial forecast.
Infrastructure Investment
The PUD anticipates investing approximately $45 million over the next decade in substations and other critical infrastructure. These projects will replace aging equipment, improve reliability, and help prevent outages.
Customer Preference
A 2024 customer survey indicated most respondents prefer small, steady adjustments rather than infrequent, larger increases. Annual adjustments also help stabilize reserves and maintain financial health.
How Our Rates Compare
Even with this proposed adjustment, Pend Oreille PUD customers will continue to pay among the lowest electric rates in Washington and across the country. We remain focused on affordability, especially for households and businesses in rural communities. The chart below from the U.S. Energy Information Administration shows average residential electric prices per kWh nationwide.
Why Small, Regular Adjustments Help You
Customers have told us they’d rather see small, predictable changes instead of big jumps every few years. We agree. Regular annual adjustments:
- help prevent sudden, steep rate spikes
- support system upgrades that keep your lights on
- protect the PUD from emergencies and rising costs
- keep the community’s power affordable long term
The PUD Board of Commissioners will accept public comment through March 17, 2026. Share your feedback by emailing information@popud.org or by contacting the Commissioners. Their contact information can be found here: https://popud.org/top-links/about-your-pud/commissioners-and-meetings
For additional rate information, please view our presentation from the March 3, 2026 Public Hearing on Electric Rates, or download our 2025 Electric Service Rates and Credit Policy
Current Rates
Rates Summary effective April 1, 2025:
| Customer Class | Rate ($/kWh) |
| Residential - Single Phase | $0.0660 |
| Residential - Single Phase Secondary Meter | $0.0660 |
| Commericial - Single Phase | $0.0660 |
| Irrigation | $0.0660 |
| Residential - Three Phase | $0.0575 |
| Commercial - Three Phase | $0.0575 |
| Industrial | $0.0422 |
Service Availability Charge - $35.50 per month
kWh Charge - $.0660 per kWh
Average Monthly Bill - $167.45 per month (based on 2,000 kWh)
Rates are current as of April 1, 2025, but are subject to change. Our neighboring utility rates can be found here:
Facts about rates and charges:
Energy rates: cover both the cost of the energy generated or purchased and the cost to deliver the energy to a home or business.
Service availability charge: (or fixed charge) covers the cost of the infrastructure needed to deliver energy. (This infrastructure is needed regardless of how much energy a customer uses each month.)
- Fixed basic charges are generally designed to recover the costs to serve a customer that are largely independent of usage (metering, billing, wires, etc.), while the energy charge reflects the cost to generate and deliver energy.
- Fixed costs are expenses that remain the same for a utility regardless of the amount of energy its customers consume.
- Maintenance of the system requires both capital investment and ongoing operation and maintenance expenses, such as outage restoration, asset replacements, vegetation management, locating, tools and equipment, regulatory compliance, etc.
*By actively managing our assets we will be able to provide reliable service in the future*
Demand: Both consumption and demand charges are part of every customer’s bill. Residential customers pay one rate of charges for electricity service, covering both consumption and demand. This simple, combined charge is possible because there is relatively little variation in electricity use from home to home. For industrial and commercial customers, whose demand and consumption use, vary greatly. The amount and size of this equipment must be large enough to meet peak consumption periods.
We invest in generation and distribution equipment to meet the maximum demand that all customers may require at one time. We use peak demand to properly size electric service for our customers. Separate charges for energy consumption and demand more fairly distribute the costs of providing service to customers who use large amounts of energy. Energy charges are based only on the total amount of energy a customer consumes. Demand charges are based on the highest level of electricity supplies at one time during the billing process.