Local News

Power Sales Low for 2019

Apr 10, 2019

The first few months of the year was hard for Okanogan County PUD power sales, according to a report at the April 8 board meeting.

Director of Power Resources and Telecom Services Ron Gadeberg said that because of a mild January, followed by a “brutally cold” February and early March, power sales are at a total of $2.1 million less than expected. Sales are rounding out now in April, but it will take a while to recover.

Wholesale sales were actually better in January than usual, but then the PUD was buying power in February and March when they usually sell, Gadeberg said. Later March was better, but not enough to cover buying power in early March, when prices peaked at over $900 per megawatt.

Retail sales were lower than usual in January with mild temperatures, but then higher than usual in February, recovering some. March numbers were not yet available.

Historically, the PUD has been able to recover from shortfalls in the budget as the year goes by, Gadeberg said, but there are many factors that will make that difficult in a low water year.