Beginning Saturday, customers of Puget Sound Energy (PSE) will receive a small credit on their monthly bill due to a renewable energy tax grant the company received for their generation of wind power.

The Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission (UTC) allowed PSE to credit customers $8.8 million after the company received a grant from the U.S. Treasury for building wind generating facilities. The commissioners agreed with a staff recommendation to allow the benefits to be passed on to customers at a public meeting Thursday.

The average residential customer using 1000 kilowatt-hours of electricity a month will see a monthly credit of $0.44 for a total credit of about $5 in 2011. The credit will be adjusted annually based on the Treasury grant balance and will remain in place until 2021.

PSE applied for and received the Treasury grant on its expansion of the Wild Horse wind project outside of Ellensburg.