Low-income seniors and people with disabilities can get a $20 monthly discount soon on their electricity bills in East Jefferson County and there's talk of extending that to all low-income customers.

Jefferson County Public Utility District board voted unanimously earlier this month to more than double the base-rate discount from $7.49 a month to $20 a month. It is to take effect as soon as billing issues are ironed out.

“We need to get this done during the cold season, so it's an ASAP thing,” said PUD resource manager Bill Graham.

Commissioner Ken McMillen made the motion to increase the discount and Commissioners Barney Burke and Wayne King agreed on Nov. 4. The motion did not have a start date, so logistics were left to employees to implement.

The $7.49 monthly discount has not attracted many people to go through the PUD paperwork necessary to get the discount, Burke said. About 200 customers have taken advantage of that discount, which amounts to an annual savings of $89.88. Now that the discount is worth $240 a year, Burke expects more people might take advantage of it.

To get the discount, people need to apply to the PUD and prove their eligibility.

The discount increase should not have an impact on other PUD customers.

“It's a small amount compared to the $36 million in revenue we get,” Burke said. He noted that a consultant determined that increasing the discount to the small number of people now using the program would not require rates for other customers to increase.

BIGGER ISSUE: EXPANSION

An issue commissioners may also consider next year is a possible expansion of the base-rate discount to all low-income people.

“I'm glad we're going ahead with the other discount for now,” Burke said. “We'll look at the other discounts in the coming month after we've had a chance to analyze the options and get sufficient public input.”

The PUD's Citizen Advisory Board has been weighing in on the issue.

In a memo to the board dated Nov. 15, the CAB recommended that the term “low-income” be defined as income that falls below 100 percent of the Federal Poverty Level. That level was at $11,490 for a person living alone in 2013 and $23,550 for a family of four.

“We believe that any program for low-income assistance should be extended to all low-income houses that the PUD serves, not just low-income disabled and seniors households,” CAB chair James Dow wrote.

The letter notes that 20 percent of all children in Jefferson County live in low-income households.

If the PUD did open the discount to all households, the CAB estimated that 2,000 households would be eligible and more than 1,000 might apply.

“We recommend that the PUD plan to spend approximately $500,000 per year in direct low-income assistance, amounting to about $500 per household per year assuming 1,000 qualified applicants,” Dow wrote.

Dow said that such assistance is comparable to the level of assistance low-income households received during the last year of Puget Sound Energy's ownership of the electric system in Jefferson County.

Dow also noted the PUD likely would have to hire additional help to administer any expansion.

As a result, the CAB recommended the PUD tell EES Consulting, which has been working on a rate study, to include a provision to fund close to $600,000 in assistance a year, which would pay for the direct help to low-income people as well as staff to administer the program.

POWER BOOST

The CAB also urged the board to promote the programs it offers, including the Power Boost program, which accepts monthly or one-time donations from customers to help low-income people with their bills.

The PUD board also has voted to give 50 percent of its Power Boost income to Olympic Community Action Programs (OlyCAP) and 50 percent to St. Vincent de Paul, a nonprofit organization that has helped a number of people this year pay high winter power bills.