2026 PUD Water & Sewer Rates [VIDEO]
Jefferson County PUD’s Board of Commissioners approved a planned schedule of rate increases for water and sewer services at the Regular Meeting held on January 20th.
Commission video link HERE [jump to 31:30 in meeting recording for water/sewer rate study]
The approved schedule is a 5-year cycle of gradual rates increases starting February 5, 2026. Water rates would increase 4.75% annually until 2029, at which time the rate increase would decrease to 3% through 2030.
Sewer rates have shifted to a standardized single rate across all existing customers at $91.23/mo. Historically, the PUD has had separate sewer rates for customers in Kala Point and Beckett Point. Approval of the 2026 rate schedule would bring sewer rates more in line with electric and water, which operate under a postage stamp rate system.
“The path of least resistance is to go with the postage stamp rate,” said Ken Collins, District 2 Commissioner, following a final rate study presentation by the FCS Group focusing on making the PUD’s sewer service financially self-supporting.
FCS Group completed a similar study for the electric utility in the spring of 2025.
Traditionally, sewer services were budgeted as part of the PUD’s water department. The new rate study focused on a rate schedule that makes annual adjustments to the postage stamp rate in or to reduce the likelihood of the water service rates subsidizing sewer service.
Jeff Randall, District 1 Commissioner, noted the challenges of having more than 400 sewer customers across multiple sewer systems countywide, especially when multiple rate structures were involved. “It doesn’t seem like a sustainable model to keep the systems separate,” Randall said, adding the single-rate approach was the best step forward for the sewer utility.
The new rates are not applicable to customers served by the new Port Hadlock sewer system, which is operated by the PUD but owned by Jefferson County.
The cost-of-service study and approved rates ensure that each utility cover the cost of providing the service. Both water and sewer rates were determined to need the adjustments to cover the cost of current maintenance and operation, remain financially solid, and address future expenses. 