PORT ANGELES — A proposed 3 percent raise in retail electric rates in 2009 would be poorly timed, a Clallam County Public Utility District commissioner said Monday.
Hugh Haffner, running for re-election in District 2 against Bob Jensen, called the current economic climate “very similar to what happened in ’29.”
He referred to the economic collapse 79 years ago that began the Great Depression.
“It scares me about how it’s going to affect our budget,” he said.
“We’ve got to try to at least keep rates stable.”
The 3 percent increase was an assumption made in preliminary budget figures presented by Joshua Bunch, PUD treasurer/controller, at a public hearing.
The budget, he said, still faces tinkering and possible tightening.
