LMUD Prepares for a Monumental Year
Happy New Year! I hope each of you enjoyed a peaceful holiday season and is looking forward to a prosperous and fulfilling 2026. This coming year will be monumental for the Lassen Municipal Utility District (LMUD) and the community we serve. By the end of 2026, the NV Energy interconnection will be completed, and the Skedaddle Substation will come online. The new substation will give us a more reliable connection to the electric grid and make power interruptions caused by a single transmission line a thing of the past.
Living in Lassen County is a gift. We enjoy mountain vistas, clear lakes, and open spaces without the congestion of California’s big cities. Yet even here, we are connected to a much larger state, federal, and global energy system. Changes in laws, regulations, and markets shape how we serve your energy needs and the costs we incur. Being part of a broader energy network means decisions made hundreds of miles away, whether in Sacramento, Washington, D.C., or world markets, can affect our rural communities. That’s why we continue to stay engaged with policymakers and industry partners to help protect local control, reliability, and affordability.
Even as we celebrate progress, we cannot ignore the energy affordability challenges facing Californians and Americans nationwide. Californians pay some of the highest electric rates in the country. Investor-owned utilities, which serve nearly 70% of U.S. customers, have been requesting unprecedented rate increases while returning record profits to shareholders. Electric bills have been rising twice as fast as inflation, leaving more than 52 million Americans unable to pay at least 1 power bill last year and roughly 3 million facing service shutoffs.
These facts underscore the value and importance of public power. LMUD operates on a not-for-profit basis, which means every dollar we earn goes back into serving you, not into investors’ pockets. That keeps your bills lower and ensures your money stays in the community, strengthening our local economy and supporting friends, neighbors and families.
That broader context is exactly why our locally elected board adopted a 3-year rate plan last fall. We saw a need to create long-term rate certainty for our customers while continuing to invest in reliability improvements and community programs.
As part of this plan, a state-mandated public benefits charge of 2.85% will appear as its own line item on your next month’s bill. Separating this charge increases transparency and ensures dedicated funding for energy-efficiency rebates, customer assistance, and other public benefits programs.
2 modest rate adjustments are scheduled for 2027 and 2028, driven by increasing transmission costs and planned infrastructure improvements. By laying out this schedule now, we can proactively manage costs—rather than recovering them after the fact—and keep your rates lower over the long term.
At LMUD, we recognize every dollar counts. That’s why our staff administers programs to help you save money and support those who need a helping hand. Our Winter Energy Assistance Rate and Emergency Energy Assistance program provide discounts and 1-time credits to income-eligible households. We offer a suite of energy-efficiency rebates for residential and commercial customers, ranging from Energy Star appliances to LED lighting upgrades, totaling tens of thousands of dollars in annual savings. These programs are funded in part by the public benefits charge. They are designed to help you use energy wisely, lower your overall energy bills, and support our community’s most vulnerable members. Visit our website or call our office at (530) 257-4174 to see how these programs can benefit your household or business.
As we look ahead to 2026, we will continue to advance projects that strengthen the system that serves you and supports our community. We will keep you informed every step of the way through Ruralite, our website, and our Facebook page. As always, I invite you to stay involved and share your thoughts by attending our monthly board meetings, held in the LMUD Board Room at 65 South Roop Street. Visit our website for meeting dates, agendas, and minutes.
I wish each of you a happy and prosperous new year. Together, we will make 2026 a monumental year for LMUD and the communities we serve.
Nick Dominguez
General Manager