FALL 2020

Energizing Life in Our Communities • snopud.com

Community Connections

INSIDE: Connect With Your Commissioners | Energy Talk Connect With Convenience: Introducing MySnoPUD | Join the PUD’s EV Community When Times are Hard, the PUD is There | Our Commitment to Community Safety

A Partner in the Classroom for Over 30 Years | Be Prepared for Storm Season

Tonya (Toni) Olson, SecretaryWe Improve...

The future is electric! In terms of getting around, everyone is buzzing about zero-emission transpor-tation. A growing number of electric vehicles are cruising Snohomish County highways, Everett Transit has invested in electric buses, and soon green and white electric ferries will be plying Puget Sound waters. I’m proud of the work our employees have done in developing the PUD’s Elec-trification Transportation Plan. We are now offering our customers rewards for installing EV chargers in their homes, partnering with customers on an EV study to learn more about driv-ing and charging habits, and even purchased two exciting new EVs for employees to drive (see page 5). What should excite everyone is the fact that vehicles charged in the PUD’s service area are using some of the cleanest electric-ity in the nation. That means EV drivers in Snohomish County and Camano Island are not only saving money, but the planet as well. The PUD must plan carefully for this increase in power needs. Thankfully, the PUD is a not-for-profit organization. We continually reinvest in our services, infra-structure and, most importantly, you. How is the PUD able to do this? First, there are no big corporate profits to pro-tect. Second, the PUD is local. We are your friends and neighbors, working to-gether toward a brighter future. A future that is undoubtedly electric!

Rebecca Wolfe, Vice PresidentWe Support...

As a long-time PUD customer and now Commissioner, I feel strongly about the responsibility of public power in Sno-homish County and Camano Island. Where many private utilities might pri-oritize their financial responsibilities to shareholders, the PUD prioritizes its commitment to you – the customer. Perhaps nowhere is that more obvious recently than in the PUD’s ongoing Com-munity Support Plan. As the pan-demic brought our region’s econ-omy to a near stand-still, the PUD allocated funding for cus-tomers struggling through a job loss, reduced pay or illness. Late payment fees were also waived and disconnections for non-payment tempo-rarily halted. Since March, tens of thousands of our customers have benefited from one-time bill credits, budget-friendly payment plans and more. With the Board’s unanimous approv-al, employees also recently enhanced the PUD’s income-qualified discount pro-gram. Today, more families in our region can qualify for payment relief based on new household income limits. Community is at the very core of the PUD. It has been since its creation in 1936 by a majority vote of the people in Snohomish County. Today, your voice continues to guide this organization and its leadership, including the three of us. You are not just a customer of the PUD. You are an owner, and it is our privilege to serve you.

Sidney (Sid) Logan, PresidentWe Listen...

In the 1930s, the Rural Electrification Administration joined with public power utilities like your Snohomish County PUD to deliver electricity to underserved communities in rural America, bringing farmers and rural communities into the 20th century. Today, the lack of access to broadband internet is a 21st century version of that predicament. With more workers and students depending on broadband to get work and school done, the pandemic has exacerbated the issue. Here in Snohomish County, I’ve heard from some of our customer-owners in Darrington, Oso and other underserved areas about their lack of consistent and re-liable broadband, and the PUD is listening. This summer, the PUD estab-lished a team to examine the broadband accessibility issues in Snohomish County and Camano Island. We are in a unique position to possibly help. The PUD manages a vast network of poles and wires to deliver power – poles and wires that already deliver broadband to most homes for existing internet providers. I’m excited to hear from our team on this complex issue, one that would impact every ratepayer and make life better for many. As Commissioners of the PUD, we serve the entire community, not just a se-lect few. We are guided by our mission to provide safe, reliable, affordable and envi-ronmentally sustainable power and water to our customers. One day, that might also include broadband.

We welcome you to attend any of our public meetings, held on the first and third Tuesday of every month.

Connect With Your Commissioners

2 Current Fall 2020 Community Connections

Editors: Aaron Swaney/Cayle Thompson Design: Wendy Parris Photography: Krysta Rasmussen

Vol. 32 Number 1 | Published Sept. 2020 | Email comments to: current@snopud.com

EnergyTalk

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Customer Service M-F, 8 a.m. – 5:30 p.m. 425-783-1000

Energy Hotline Your source for energy-efficiency information M-F, 8 a.m. – 5 p.m. 425-783-1700

Putting Power in the Hands of CustomersThe Connect Up program is an infrastructure and technology project. It in-cludes deploying new metering technology, adding customer benefits and lead-ing the utility into the future. Connect Up will focus on customers, giving them new options to take control of energy use and lower their bills, including de-tailed insight into their energy usage, flexible billing and new rate designs. In August, PUD Commissioners approved the first steps of the program, which

is scheduled to roll out over the next five years. To learn more, visit snopud.com/connectup.

Water Powers Snohomish County & Camano IslandThe PUD is proud to be a national leader in carbon-free, renewable energy. We supply local homes and businesses with electricity almost entirely free of fossil fuels, largely due to our partnership with the Bonneville Power Admin-istration and its network of hydropower projects along the Columbia River. As Washington moves closer to required 100% clean energy by 2045, hydropower will continue to play an important role in supporting families and busi-nesses. Thanks to abundant hydropower, your PUD is already close to that mark!

New Rate Designs for PUD Business CustomersThe PUD has implemented innovative and flexible rate designs to help busi-

ness customers save money. Select commercial and industrial customers are piloting a Time-of-Day rate program that allows them to take

advantage of a “nights and weekends” discount to save money for energy used during off-hours. This pilot will al-

low the PUD to study whether a Time-of-Day rate design can help spread out electricity usage to keep the utility from purchasing additional,

more expensive power during winter months.

ContentsPAGE 4

Connect With Convenience: Introducing MySnoPUD

PAGE 5

Join the PUD’s EV Community

» Earn a Reward for Installing a Level 2 Charger

» SmartCharge SnoPUD! » PUD Greens Up its Fleet

PAGE 6

When Times Are Hard, the PUD is There

» Expanding Access to Income Assistance

» Setting a National Standard in Customer Care

PAGE 7

Our Commitment to Community Safety

» New Technology Keeping the Lights On

PAGE 8

A Partner in the Classroom for Over 30 Years

Be Prepared for Storm Season

Current Fall 2020 3Community Connections

Connect With Convenience: Introducing MySnoPUD

It’s easy to take advantage of all these exciting new benefits!Simply go to snopud.com/mysnopud to get started

We’re excited to share the launch of our new customer por-tal! MySnoPUD is the new one-stop-shop for all things related to your PUD account. Developed over the last year, MySnoPUD is easy to use, free and available 24/7 – giving you the power of convenience! Visit MySnoPUD today and check out some of the perks, including:

Interactive Energy & Water Usage ChartsWe’ve made it easy to compare your usage over time. With MySnoPUD, you can log in to review your most recent usage and how it stacks up to previous months. You can even overlay informa-tion to see how your usage changes through the year based on external fac-tors, such as weather conditions.

Easy Auto PayNever worry about missing a payment again with MySno-PUD’s easy auto pay feature. Sign up is optional!

Access More of Your Billing HistoryIt’s easy to keep track of your PUD pay-ments with MySnoPUD’s expanded billing history. Want to compare your bill over time? All the information is right there at your fingertips.

Bill & Payment Text AlertsPrefer the convenience of a text message? It’s easy! Get time-ly reminders sent directly to your phone, notifying you when a bill is ready or a payment has been made to your account.

New Communication OptionsYou decide how often you’d like to hear from us! Sign up to receive specific messages, such as high bill alerts and other details. We’re making it easier to receive information based on your personal preferences!

4 Current Fall 2020 Community Connections

Earn a Reward for Installing a Level 2 ChargerThinking about getting a Level 2 charger or recently purchased one? The PUD is offering rewards to cus-tomers for the purchase and installation of qualifying Level 2 Energy Star EV char-gers in their homes. There are two rewards: • $500 reward for eligible customers who purchase

and install a qualified Level 2 connected EV charger.• $50 reward for eligible customers who purchase and

install a qualified Level 2 EV charger. For program details, visit snopud.com/evrewards.

Level 1 vs. Level 2: what’s the difference?Unlike Level 1 chargers supplied with EVs, which plug into a standard wall outlet, Level 2 chargers use a 240-volt dedicated outlet providing quicker charging times.

Join the PUD’s EV Community

CONNECT

& D R I V E

Electric vehicles (EVs) charged in Snohomish County PUD’s service area run on some of the cleanest power in the nation. The PUD recently ap-proved an Electric Transportation Plan, aiming to optimize the utility’s grid for transportation electrification and enable customer adoption of electric transportation. The plan calls for investments in infrastructure, customer-incentive opportunities and public outreach to promote clean transportation. If you own or are interested in owning an EV, sign up to join the PUD’s electric vehicle community at snopud.com/ev. Learn about ride-and-drive events, reward opportunities and receive regular email newsletters.

PUD Greens Up its FleetThe PUD recently purchased a pair of 2019 all-electric

Kia Niros, making its already clean fleet of vehicles that much cleaner. Named one of Edmunds’ five best EVs to purchase in 2020, the Kia Niro is a crossover SUV with a driving range of 239 miles and excellent safety technology. If you see one of our can’t-miss Niros, give it a honk and a wave!

SmartCharge SnoPUD! Help your PUD better understand EVs

To better understand EV customers, Sno-homish County PUD is partnering with Fleet-Carma, a software and hardware developer that promotes the acceptance of zero-emission vehicles, to launch a two-year study of driving and charging patterns as well as other data. The study is open to PUD customers who own an electric or plug-in hybrid vehicle and live year-round in Snohomish County or Ca-mano Island. Qualified customers may be eli-gible for up to $185 over two years. Participa-tion is limited to 100 people.Learn more at snopud.com/smartcharge

Explore more rewards and energy-savings opportunities at snopud.com/sr and marketplace.snopud.com!

Current Fall 2020 5Community Connections

When COVID-19 hit, PUD employees jumped into action to support customers facing sudden and unexpected job losses, reduced pay or illness. To ensure everybody maintained access to the critical power and water needed for health and safety, we committed to working with any customer who was financially impacted by COVID-19. Since March, the PUD has assisted more than 12,000 homeowners, renters and small businesses with one-time bill credits and connected thousands more with budget-friendly payment plans and other important community resources – all part of our commitment to community service!

Setting a National Standard in Customer Care

When Times are Hard, the PUD is ThereSupporting Customers During COVID-19

We are all part of the same community, and we strive to treat every customer as our neighbor and friend. In spring 2020, the PUD’s Customer Service team was recognized by JD Power & Associates as one of the highest rat-ed in the nation for customer satisfaction! Thank you for being a PUD customer! It is our privilege to serve you and the community we share!

6 Current Fall 2020 Community Connections

Expanding Access to Income AssistanceLast year, the PUD recognized an opportunity to help more families in Snohomish County and Camano Is-land. Working with community partners, the PUD streamlined its low-income and senior low-income bill discount applications, making it easier for individuals and families to apply for assistance. In 2020, with the support of the PUD’s Board of Commissioners, the two programs were merged into one. Today, the PUD’s new Income-Qualified Assistance Program benefits

more customers than ever! If you could use help with your PUD bill, please call

425-783-1000 to speak with one of our friendly and caring Cus-tomer Service Representatives.

The PUD offers year-round income-qualified rate discounts of 25% or 50% off electric and water bills based on customer household income limits.

Household Monthly AnnualSize Income Income1 person $2,127 $25,520

2 people $2,873 $34,480

3 people $3,620 $43,440

4 people $4,367 $52,400

5 people $5,113 $61,360

6 people $5,860 $70,320Each additionalperson add $746.66 add $8,960

Our Commitment to Community SafetyEven in uncertain times, some things nev-er change. This fall and winter, the PUD is dedicated to responding to storm damage as quickly and efficiently as we always do. We’ll just be doing it with extra precautions to ensure the safe-ty and well-being of our employees and customers dur-ing COVID-19.

• Appropriate protective equipment: Linemen are ac-customed to wearing protective equipment like fire-re-sistant (FR) clothing and rubber gloves to insulate against electric shock. During the pandemic, they’ve added new equipment, including face-cov-erings made of FR-rated material and fog-resistant safety glasses.

• Extensive screening and contact tracing: Before every shift, PUD employees must take their temperature, self-screen for COVID-19 symptoms and sign in through a web-based form, giving the PUD a robust contact tracing tool in case an employee is diagnosed with CO-VID-19.

• Social distancing: While working in the field, critical PUD employees are practicing social distancing when-ever they can. Line work can require workers to be within 6 feet of each other, and Washington’s Labor & Industries has made provisions for line workers to ac-complish this safely.

• Sanitizing equipment: Line tools and equipment are critical to getting the work done. To ensure these shared

tools are safe throughout the day, work-ers sanitize them between each use and clean all equipment overnight.

• Holding meetings outside: In-stead of convening for daily job meetings and regular safety meetings inside PUD offices, line crews are meeting outside to reduce the chance of transmitting any illness.

New Technology Keeping the Lights OnThe PUD is testing new single-phase reclosers, which can au-tomatically restore outages caused when a tree limb or other debris falls into power lines. The PUD can deploy these smaller, less expensive reclosers in more locations, cutting down poten-tial outages for more customers!

Current Fall 2020 7Community Connections

P.O. Box 1107Everett, WA 98206-1107

PRSRT STDU.S. Postage

PAIDSeattle, WA

Permit No. 7047

ECRWSSPOSTAL CUSTOMER

A Partner in the Classroom for Over 30 Years

• Please be patient: Due to the pandemic, we are taking extra precau-tions to keep our crews safe. That can mean jobs restoring power may take extra time. We thank you for your patience.

• Please be prepared: With more people working from home during the pandemic, it’s important to remember to be pre-pared for outages. Make sure to have a supply of non-per-ishable food and water available, keep phones charged and have flashlights ready. Consider purchasing and installing a portable generator to ensure backup power.

• Please be careful: In normal times, our crews love to interact with customers. But during the pandemic, please don’t be offended if we keep our distance. It’s for your safety, as well as ours!

For more than three decades, the PUD has proudly sup-ported classroom education in Snohomish County and Camano Island. We offer high-quality, interactive and stan-dards-based lessons to support a wide range of topics in sci-ence, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education. As educators and school administrators adjust to a new way of teaching during COVID-19, the PUD is here to help. Our team of in-house teachers are focused on creating

new and engaging content for local classrooms, including: • More on-demand video lessons• Opportunities for live online instruction • Interactive and web-based “Ask an Expert” events As classroom needs evolve, so will the PUD.

Be Prepared for Storm SeasonTips to keep your family safe and healthy

Did You Know?The PUD has not had a rate increase in three years!

We are committed to effective cost management on behalf of all customers!

Report an outage 24/7 by visiting snopud.com/outagemap

To learn more about our ongoing education efforts, including material already available online, visit snopud.com and click on “Education.”