KENNEWICK, Wash. – The 2025 Benton PUD’s Board of Commissioners adopted a 5% retail rate increase effective April 1, 2025.
Benton PUD said for an average residential customer, this will result in an increase of about $6.00 per month, from $115 to $121. This is the first rate increase since 2019.
According to the release, the main causes for the increase are rising costs of materials, labor, and power supply.
The residential daily system charge will increase from 63 cents per day to 66 cents per day, the demand charge will increase from $1.00 per kW to $1.05 per kW, and the residential kilowatt-hour (kWh) rate will increase from 6.88 cents to 7.22 cents.
For other customer classes, the 5% increase will apply to all rate components including daily system charge, kilowatt-hour rate, and demand charge (where applicable).
According to the press release, Benton PUD’s wholesale electric supplier, the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) is proposing a 9.8% rate increase for power generation and a 21% rate increase for transmission beginning October 2025. The changes come from rising costs of materials, labor and the need for critical maintenance and upgrades.
BPA will make its final decision later this summer on their rate increases. The cost for BPA power represents over 50% of Benton PUD’s total budget in a typical year and means an increase in power costs has a direct and significant impact on Benton PUD’s retail rates. Benton PUD expects BPA’s rates will continue an upward trend for the foreseeable future.
