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Page A-6 - Shelton-Mason County Journal Thursday, Dec. 10, 2020
PUD 3 distributes $300K in funds to help customers
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kbox/eitner@masoncounty. com
Mason Public Utility District 3 dis—
tributed all $300,000 it received as
part of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief,
and Economic Security (CARES) Act
by giving $741 to each of the 405 cus-
tomers who applied and qualified for
assistance with their bills.
The uniform amount was settled
on because of the difficulty of fairly
and accurately weighing the respec—
tive financial effects on each of the
qualifying customers without access to
private information such as their tax
forms or pay statements, said Mason
PUD 3 Communications and Govern-
ment Relations Manager Lynn Eaton.
Eaton said the PUD’s customer ser-
vice personnel had reached out to all
of the utility’s customers in an effort
to ensure that no one who qualified
would be turned away.
Diane Hennessy, customer service
manager for Mason PUD 3, agreed
with Eaton that achieving this level
of outreach was no small feat. It saw
the PUD engage in a multimedia infor-
mational campaign that included mes-
saging about the available CARES Act
funds in customers’ billing statements,
in newsletters, on the PUD’s website
and social media accounts, and outside
media such as radio broadcasts and
mentions in the newspaper.
“We only had five weeks, but we got
out 73,830 emails, mobile texts and
push notifications,” Hennessy said.
Several PUD customers’ accounts
still have outstanding balances, even
with this federally supplemented at-
tempt to address everyone who re-
mains in arrears.
Eaton reassured PUD custom-
ers that no one’s utility services will
be disconnected “anytime soon,” and
she encouraged customers in need of
further support to check the PUD’s
website at www.pud3.org/service/bill-
ing-options/assistance—programs for
information on the Community Action
Council, as well as other COVID-19
assistance and financial aid.
Those interested in lending a help-
ing hand to fellow Mason County resi-
dents can choose to “round up” their
bills for the Project Share Assistance
Program, at www.pud3.org/service/
manage-your-account/round-up-for-
project-share.
Eaton also noted that Gov. Jay In-
slee had recently announced an antici-
pated $15 million for energy bills for
low—income households, although she
does not have any details at this time
on how the money might be distribut-
ed, including whether county agencies
or the public utility districts would be
the subrecipients dispensing them to
the utility customers.
“We’ve had a great partnership
with the county on this process, which
we really appreciated, and from which
we learned a lot,” Eaton said. “We’ve
heard so many heartbreaking stories,
which makes us especially grateful to
have been able to impact those peo-
ple’s lives positively.”
PUD budget to see 5% increase for 2021, higher rates
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kbox/eitner@masoncounty com
The $81.5 million budget
for Mason Public Utility Dis—
trict 3 in 2021 includes an
increase in the daily system
charge, similar to last year’s,
and the first local energy rate
increase since 2016.
PUD 3 is increasing its res-
idential kilowatt—hour rates
by 3%, and is increasing its
residential and large com-
mercial and industrial daily
system charges by 15 cents,
which PUD 3 Communica-
tions and Government Rela-
tions Manager Lynn Eaton
said amounts to an average
energy cost increase of $4.40
per month, and an average
system charge increase of
$4.50 per month.
The previous local energy
rate increase in 2016 was 4%,
while last year’s increase in
the daily system charge was
SHOP LOCAL. SHOP MASON COUNTY.
10 cents.
The PUD 3 budget for 2021,
which was adopted Nov. 24
following public hearings and
a Nov. 10 workshop on both
the budget and the rate in-
creases, also includes a $1.50
increase in the demand rate.
All of those rate increases
go into effect with the meter
readings on or after Jan. 1.
Eaton said the adopted
budget takes “a conserva-
tive approach,” based on the
uncertain economic effects of
COVID-19, while still priori—
tizing “the safety and reliabil-
ity of the essential services”
that PUD 3 provides.
After commissioners and
staff analyzed every func-
tion at PUD 3 for its needs
and costs, which include sus—
taining the priorities set in
the PUD’s five-year strategic
plan, as well as factoring in
regulatory requirements and
other effects outside of the
utility’s control, the 2021 bud-
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The ad for the Mason County Senior Activities AssociatIOn
which ran on page A-3 of the November 26 edition
of the Journal, had been paid for by
get wound up being 5% higher
than the budget for 2020.
Notable costs in PUD 3’s
budget include:
0 Wholesale rate changes
from the Bonneville Power
Administration.
0 $3.7 million in 2021 to
meet the requirements of the
state Energy Independence
Act.
0 Planning, designing
and preparing for infrastruc-
ture such as substations and
transmission needs to meet
the ongoing growth of both
the community and the sys-
tem.
0 $1.5 million for the con-
tinued implementation of the
supervisory control and data
acquisition network, fongxideand has also ;raisad-,,it§.nale-.y
monitoring, control, outage
restoration and optimization.
0 Accelerated deployment
of ruralbroadband to match
state and federal grants, as
well as upgrades to the ex-
isting network, allowing cus-
tomers to connect more easily
in response to the pandemic.
0 Multiyear fiber-tagging
and relocation, as required in
the PUD 3 Pole Attachment
License Agreement.
0 Pole inspection and
treatment, set up on a 10-
year cycle, to ensure contin-
ued safety and reliability.
Other items in the budget
are due to fluctuations in the
cost of goods and services, as
well as ongoing effects of CO-
VID-19.
To offset those increased
costs, PUD 3 is using $1.3
million in bond money for
capital expenses such as
the SCADA system and in-
frastructure construction,
attachment rates, effective
with its July 2021 billings, to
recover the increased costs
for maintenance to its pole
inventory.
To help families finan-
cially affected by COVlD-19,
PUD 3 will still waive late
fees and disconnections for
nonpayment, and recently
joined with Mason County to
distribute $300,000 of Coro-
navirus Aid, Relief, and Eco-
nomic Security (CARES) Act
funding to. qualifying cus-
tomers who successfully ap—
plied for bill repayment aid
through the PUD.
Eaton said that customers
in need should also contact
the Mason County Commu-
nity Action Council for as—
sistance, since low-income
senior citizens and disabled
customers may qualify for
discounts that would waive
the daily system charge from
their bills.
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financial analyses through-
out 2021, as part of an on-
going process to ensure its
. rates support the most reli-
able, economical- and safest
service possible for its cus-
tomers,” Eaton said.
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