Rate Increase 2022 - 2023

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As of August 1st, the PUD has adopted new water rates. This is the first rate increase in 2 years. This rate increase was carefully deliberated by the Board of Directors. It takes into consideration the challenges our customers have faced the past few years against the inflation the PUD now faces. Recent supply chain issues and the cost of materials and services have placed continued pressure on our expenses. As a result of these increases, we are unable to absorb rising costs. Failing to adequately fund infrastructure can be catastrophic for a community.  We’ll talk more about funding infrastructure below.

Let’s break down what the rate increase looks like for residential customers:

Before the rate increase, customers were charged the Daily Base Rate as follows:

$1.19/day x 30 days = $35.70

And if a customer had a usage charge for 200 cu. ft. (two units):

$2.60 x 2 units = $5.20

For a total bill of:  $37.50 + $5.20 = $42.70

Now, this is what customers can expect for the Daily Base Rate starting with their August statement:

$1.37/day x 30 days = $41.10

And if there’s a usage charge for 200 cu. ft. (two units):

$2.99 x 2 units = $5.98

For a total bill of: $41.10 + $5.98 = $47.08

Over the next 5 – 10 years, the PUD has several Capital Projects planned with a projected budget of approximately 7.5 million dollars.  This is a huge burden, and we are actively applying for State funding. Some examples of our Capital Projects include pipeline replacement due to insufficient system pressure and lack of seismic resiliency, Dick’s Fork Storage Tank replacement, and water treatment plant upgrades. Like the City of Waldport, our water treatment plants are seeing renovations and upgrades for the first time since their construction. There is new technology available now to make the plants run more efficiently and produce more accurate data collection.