BENTON COUNTY, Wash.- Benton PUD customers may see a rate hike on their monthly bills beginning in November.
According to the Benton PUD the rising costs of backup technology and the costs of wind and solar projects, will increase the costs for utilities to maintain power grid reliability.
Benton PUD plans to meet these rising costs by implementing a change to its residential rate to incentivize customers to shift some of their electricity use to hours other than periods of max power grid demand.
At certain times of the day more people are using electricity and thus increasing demand on the grid. According to the Benton PUD the peak hours of electricity use from April through October are 6-9 a.m. and 5-8 p.m. From May through September the peak hours of electricity use are from 5-8 p.m.
Starting in November Benton PUD will implement a demand charge of $1/Kilowatt based on a customer’s highest one-hour of usage during peak periods according to the utility district’s July Newsletter.
Spreading out the use of appliances and electric devices throughout the day, rather than using them all at once during peak periods, will lower a customer’s demand, meaning they will see a lower demand charge on their bills.
Customers can monitor their household’s energy usage and see when their peak demand time is through Benton PUD’s SmartHub.
According to Benton PUD the rate increase from the demand charge will likely be $5 or less on average to a customer’s monthly bill.
