Rate Comparison
How does Okanogan County PUD compare with other Washington State utilities when it comes to how much customers pay for their electricity? The following information, taken from the Washington Public Utility District Association’s 2005 Sourcebook, provides that comparison.
The rates in Table-1 are not the actual rate each utility charges but rather is the result of taking the total revenue earned divided by the total kilowatt hours of electricity sold (excluding resale of surplus electricity).
For example: Okanogan County PUD’s published residential rate is 4.4 cents per kilowatt hour. The table shows the value to be 5.13 cents per kilowatt hour. The difference between the two values is the additional cost that basic charges, demand charges, taxes, etc. have on the published rate. These additional charges are taken into consideration in determining the rates as shown in the table.
As can be seen, not all PUDs offer rates in all four categories.
|
Residential |
Industrial |
Commercial |
Irrigation |
Asotin County PUD |
0.00 |
0.00 |
0.00 |
4.15 |
Benton County PUD |
7.46 |
3.74 |
5.85 |
4.31 |
Chelan County PUD |
2.97 |
1.87 |
3.19 |
2.55 |
Clallam County PUD |
6.90 |
5.28 |
6.75 |
6.81 |
Clark Public Utilities |
7.86 |
5.05 |
6.45 |
0.00 |
Cowlitz County PUD |
5.13 |
3.53 |
6.28 |
0.00 |
Douglas County PUD |
2.29 |
0.00 |
2.33 |
1.77 |
Ferry County PUD |
7.51 |
4.24 |
7.06 |
6.89 |
Franklin County PUD |
7.69 |
5.59 |
6.93 |
5.90 |
Grant County PUD |
4.21 |
2.38 |
2.95 |
3.18 |
Grays Harbor County PUD |
7.66 |
5.31 |
6.70 |
9.16 |
Kittitas County PUD |
7.84 |
7.08 |
4.78 |
6.74 |
Klickitat County PUD |
7.92 |
4.25 |
6.13 |
5.02 |
Lewis County PUD |
5.51 |
4.05 |
4.97 |
4.73 |
Mason County PUD #1 |
8.08 |
0.00 |
7.66 |
0.00 |
Mason County PUD #3 |
6.50 |
4.12 |
5.86 |
0.00 |
Okanogan County PUD |
5.13 |
4.40 |
5.49 |
3.47 |
Pacific County PUD |
6.91 |
4.41 |
7.29 |
16.51 |
Pend Oreille County PUD |
4.05 |
3.11 |
3.29 |
0.00 |
Skamania County PUD |
6.91 |
4.86 |
5.67 |
0.00 |
Snohomish County PUD |
7.80 |
5.64 |
6.97 |
0.00 |
Wahkiakum County PUD |
7.21 |
0.00 |
7.32 |
0.00 |
Whatcom County PUD |
0.00 |
3.90 |
0.00 |
0.00 |
PUD Statewide Averages |
6.67 |
3.76 |
5.90 |
3.85 |
So, how do we compare? For residential customers we are tied for fifth out of twenty-one PUDs for the lowest rates. For industrial customers, we’re eleventh out of nineteen; for commercial customers we’re seventh out of twenty-one; and for irrigation customers, we’re fourth out of fourteen. Chelan, Douglas, Grant, and Pend Oreille County PUDs tend to have the lowest rates as they own their own hydro electric facilities (dams).
Investor owned utilities or IOUs are as the name implies, owned by the people that own shares in the company. These energy providers are regulated by the Washington State Utilities and Transportation Commission.
The following information comes from the UTC’s website at http://www.wutc.wa.gov.
Below is comparison by company of how much a residential customer will spend, including basic monthly charge, for 1,000 kilowatt hours of electricity in 2005.
Avista |
$ 60.16 |
Pacific Power |
$ 48.34 |
Puget Sound Energy |
$ 72.50 |
Seattle City Light |
$ 69.75 |
Snohomish PUD |
$ 78.57 |
Tacoma Light |
$ 67.56 |
Seattle Light, Snohomish PUD and Tacoma Light are NOT regulated by the UTC but are shown for comparative purposes. The rates for these utilities include city business and occupation (B&O) taxes, while Avista, P acific, and Puget rates do not.
How does Okanogan PUD compare nationally? The following table, taken from the Department of Energy - Energy Information Administration website (http://www.eia.doe.gov/)
), sents (9.4 minus 5.13) less per kilowatt-hour than the national average.|
Average Retail Price of Electricity to Ultimate Customers by End-Use Sector, 1994 through 2005 |
||||||
Period |
Residential |
Commercial |
Industrial |
Transportation |
Other |
All Sectors |
1994 |
8.38 |
7.73 |
4.77 |
NA |
6.84 |
6.91 |
1995 |
8.4 |
7.69 |
4.66 |
NA |
6.88 |
6.89 |
1996 |
8.36 |
7.64 |
4.6 |
NA |
6.91 |
6.86 |
1997 |
8.43 |
7.59 |
4.53 |
NA |
6.91 |
6.85 |
1998 |
8.26 |
7.41 |
4.48 |
NA |
6.63 |
6.74 |
1999 |
8.16 |
7.26 |
4.43 |
NA |
6.35 |
6.66 |
2000 |
8.21 |
7.36 |
4.57 |
NA |
6.48 |
6.78 |
2001 |
8.55 |
7.84 |
5.00 |
NA |
7.15 |
7.25 |
2002 |
8.40 |
7.77 |
4.78 |
NA |
6.65 |
7.13 |
2003 |
8.68 |
7.89 |
5.01 |
6.82 |
NA |
7.38 |
2004 |
8.91 |
8.02 |
5.14 |
7.47 |
NA |
7.55 |
2005 |
9.4 |
8.46 |
5.61 |
7.45 |
NA |
8.05 |
* If you do not have an Adobe Reader, click here to install it from the Adobe web site: 