Redding may soon supply the electricity powering Win-River Casino slots.

The City Council on Tuesday will consider extending electrical service to the Redding Rancheria, a 30-acre sovereign nation just south of the city limits along Clear Creek.

The Rancheria includes tribal administration office buildings and several private homes along with the casino.

Redding Electric Utility would treat the Rancheria — which consumes roughly 1 megawatt of power each month — as a large commercial customer, said REU Director Paul Hauser.

Large commercial customers pay a base rate of just less than 13 cents a kilowatt hour.

Pacific Gas and Electric Co. currently provides power to the Rancheria, which runs its own electricity distribution corporation.

The Rancheria has experienced six blackouts in recent months — critical losses for a round-the-clock operation, Hauser said.

The tribe bought a diesel-powered generator for backup against outages, according to a council report. It now seeks power from REU as a less expensive, more environmentally - friendly alternative, according to that report.

Gary Hayward, general manager at Win-River, was unavailable for comment Friday.

Tracy Edwards, tribal CEO, also was unavailable Friday to comment on why the Rancheria is seeking electricity from REU.

The city has provided water service to the Rancheria since 1995 and sewer service since 2000, both at standard utility rates.

Hauser called the Rancheria an ideal electric customer, because its power demand is fairly constant throughout the day.

The typical residential and commercial user in Redding ramps up power consumption during the day, especially on hot summer afternoons.

Those sharp demand swings mean REU must buy or generate the power needed to keep air conditioners blasting, Hauser said. And peak demand is always the most expensive to meet, he said.

More large customers like the Rancheria would help REU even out its demand and make the peaks more affordable, he said.