Rate Credit - June 1, 2008
Residential, General Service and Small Irrigation customers will see a line item credit on their monthly bill of $.004 per kWh used each month for a year, commencing June 1, 2008.

For Residential customers, the credit decreases the cost per kilowatt hour by 6.9 percent and the base charge of $8.80 will remain the same. The average residential customer will receive about $70 over the year.

Large Irrigation customers will receive a line item credit of $.0020 per kWh for three months (June - August) due to the seasonal energy usage with a final payment after the last BPA payment is received by Benton PUD.

Benton PUD will receive a projected total of $9.8 million from the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) due to the interim relief payment agreement associated with the Residential Exchange. Benton PUD received approximately $6.4 million in April and is projected to receive an additional amount of approximately $3.4 million at the conclusion of the 2007 Supplemental Rate case in September. The final amount is yet to be determined. The customer rate credit may be adjusted when the final payment is received from BPA in September.

The payment to Benton PUD is part of the proposed $316 million BPA agreed to pay to public utilities in the Northwest. The Residential Exchange Program was established in 1980 in the Northwest Power Act to share access to low-cost hydro power with investor owned utilities’ residential and farm customers. In May, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that BPA had exceeded its authority and failed to follow the Act in determining residential exchange benefits for the region’s investor-owned utilities.

Rate Decrease - January 1, 2008

As of January 1, 2008, customers will see a rate decrease. The new residential rate will be $0.0578 per kWh, down from $0.0602 per kWh. The base charge will remain $8.80 per month.

Rate decreases for various rate classes will range from 1 to 5.7 percent with no rate change for Street Lights and Large Industrial rate classes.

This is the fifth consecutive rate decrease for Benton PUD customers. The previous rate decrease was in January 2007.