PUD, customer clear up misunderstanding

An angry Puget Island customer shared his displeasure about what he perceived to be double standards at Tuesday’s Wahkiakum PUD Board of Commissioner’s meeting.

The customer, Skip Nortrup, had received a verbal bid of $600 to provide service at a site he had selected. When Nortrup returned with a new site in mind, the formal bid became $2,200.

“I was trying to help you out, get you in as inexpensively as I could,” Tramblie told Nortrup.

According to Tramblie he planned to provide service without moving a transformer in the verbal bid for the original site. He also admitted that he had forgotten to add the standard $300 fee for the new service in the verbal bid, which would have raised the amount from $600 to $900.

“The new distance created a voltage drop issue that was unacceptable to me,” Tramblie added. “Given that situation I did the estimate to take the transformer down and move it to this location, run service wire across the road and attach to his meter base.”

There were several breakdowns in communication, and Tramblie took responsibility for them. Nortrup, a former lineman, believed he could use his own pole. The PUD prefers to use their own poles to make sure they meet their standards and the ability to maintain them.

Nortrup insisted that Tramblie’s assertion that he had initially planned to leave the transformer where it was wasn't true. Also Nortrup believed he could add his own light to the pole and was shocked to learn that the PUD does not allow that.

The bill had not been closed out and it may yet turn out to be less than the projected $2,200.

Nortrup insisted that he would pay his bill.

“If that is what your price is for a job, I’ll pay it,” he said. “I just can’t see why it differed that much.”

Commissioner Bob Jungers stepped in.

“This was a major breakdown in communication,” he said. “I think we’ve cleared up the confusion about the lack of standards. Every install has a variable. They can appear to be similar and not be. All that being said, I’m willing to accept the culpability of our miscommunication. What would you like us to do about it?”

The board decided to review their policy on informal and formal bids in hopes of avoiding any communication breakdowns in the future.

During the manager’s report, Tramblie reported that Bonneville Power Administration had proposed a big rate increase during the next rate period.

“The Northwest Public Power Council is trying to draft a report in response to BPA’s proposal and is asking some pretty in depth questions as to why the rate increase is as large as it is based on the fact it is one third of the total increase that the BPA would like to see by 2028,” Tramblie said.

He also said that a representative from Aegis, which provides some property and liability insurance for the PUD, had come by to look at safety issues.

“Her one comment was that we can always do better on tree trimming,” Tramblie said.

Tramblie shared that he had some hope that the permit for the intertie was moving along and that he was still looking at prices for new automated electric and water meters.

When a pressure regulator needed to be replaced on a property in Wahkiakum County and there was no shut off valve on the customer’s side of the meter, it got Tramblie thinking about providing the service. He suggested that the PUD could replace the regulators without charging labor if the customer would pay for the replacement part. Pressure regulators are found on the customer side of the meter and are therefore their responsibility to replace.

Jungers thought it was a good idea.

“We might have a responsibility to deliver water to our customers at a usable pressure and we can’t expect all our customers to be hydraulic engineers and understand the nuances of system pressure,” he said. “Maybe we should be taking responsibility for those pressure regulators.”

They will consider the matter.

In other news, Auditor Erin Wilson is considering adding a quick pay option for customers on the website.

The next meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, August 2, at 8:30 a.m.