THE GORGE — Turning on the lights or air conditioning inside a house is costing Gorge residents and businesses more this year. Electric utilities state that the price increase stems from the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA), a federal nonprofit that markets energy throughout the Northwest.
BPA’s new rates increase power costs by 8.9% and transmission costs by 19.9% and will remain in effect until September 2028. BPA stated the rate increases are intended to cover projected operating costs for load growth and connecting new generation sources.
It is a price increase that BPA says is lower than initially proposed, but ultimately local utility providers will decide how the costs will impact customers.
Wasco Electric Cooperative approved a rate adjustment effective March 2026. Residential customers saw their energy charge increase from 10.35 cents to 11.25 cents per kilowatt-hour, while the monthly delivery charge increased by $5, from $51 to $56.
The following month, Hood River Electric & Internet implemented a 7.5% rate increase across the board. Both Oregon-based utilities noted that despite the increases, their rates remain competitive for the region.
On the Washington side, Klickitat Public Utility District (KPUD) also announced a rate raise by 3% earlier this year and Skamania Public Utility District increased its residential energy charge by 3.36% and the base charge from $57 to $60.
KPUD stated that the increase was also partly due to the county’s increased reliance on the higher-cost Tier 2 power. Under BPA’s tiered rate structure, public utilities receive a set amount of Tier 1 power rates, sold at cost. Once the allotment is used, additional power is bought through Tier 2, which is more expensive.
According to the Northwest Power Council, Tier 1 power accounts for about 70% of BPA’s total annual sales. Both organizations stated they are preparing for future load growth, and are seeking additional power generation sources.
Since being signed into law in 2019, there’s been a push for clean energy in Washington state due to the Clean Energy Transformation Act. It requires all electric utilities in the state to be 100% carbon-free by 2045.
BPA’s energy portfolio is already largely carbon-free — 77.5% power comes from 31 hydroelectric projects and around 10.0% comes from one nuclear plant, the Columbia Generating Station at Energy Northwest. Small amounts come from wind and other sources.
Going forward, BPA is looking at adding additional wind and nuclear projects to fulfill power demand, as well as solar and geothermal.
This May, BPA approved a $700 million project proposal to increase the amount of nuclear energy available from the Columbia Generating Station. Called the Extended Power Uprate, the project estimates generating capacity to rise by 15.2% by 2031 — from 1,209 megawatts to 1,393 megawatts. The power would increase the amount available for Tier 1 customers.
In a briefing, the Northwest Power Council also stated that BPA is in conversation with Energy Northwest to use power from the Amazon-backed small modular nuclear reactors, though the online date for those would be 2035 at the earliest.
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