Ellensburg council accepts 2023 electric system plan that projects large load growth, recommends follow-up studies

Ellensburg City Council voted to accept the city’s 2023 Electrical System Plan as complete after a presentation and questions from council. Buddy Stanovich, Energy Services Director for the City of Ellensburg, introduced the report and representatives from Power Engineers presented the study and recommended next steps.

The plan projects steep increases in peak demand tied to several factors: Central Washington University’s staged decarbonization, assumed conversions from residential natural gas to electric heat pumps and increased electric vehicle charging. Evan Powers, an electrical engineer with Power Engineers, said the study used conservative assumptions and scenario multipliers supplied in part from a Lighthouse Energy Consulting report the city referenced. “These are conservative assumptions,” Powers said, and the study’s six‑ and 20‑year scenarios show large step changes tied to identified spot loads and staged campus changes.

Why it matters: the study lays out capital work and coordination the city and its wholesale supplier will need if the projected loads materialize. Power Engineers recommended…