Commissioners with Washington State’s Chelan PUD unanimously approved rate changes for crypto miners and data center customers on Aug. 21.
Effective February 2024, rate 36 customers will pay a cost-of-production energy charge until collectively, they reach 10 megawatts.
Cryptocurrency and data centers currently use about 9 megawatts with another half megawatt anticipated later this year. When their collective energy needs exceed 10 MW, the rate will reflect a market energy charge.
The new rate structure also includes several requirements intended to address the risks of these uses, and to protect residential rates and other rate classes from the associated impacts.
The changes include:
- A size limit of 3 MW per service point for rate 35 and 36 customers.
- Data centers are included in rate 36.
- Limits on where new services can be located to preserve the capacity and operability of substations and distribution equipment.
- Interruptability. For example, if there’s an outage or some other issue with the electrical grid, Chelan PUD would prioritize continued service to other customer classes first.
- Security deposit up to 3 months of the estimated bill. Rate 35 and 36 customers will also continue to pay an upfront capital charge.
Rates 35 and 36 were adopted in 2016 and 2018.
