An electric future without PSE is bright | LETTER TO THE EDITOR

Published 8:38 am Friday, July 8, 2016

To the editor:

I’m a volunteer on the city’s Electric Utility Municipalization Task Force and a steering committee member of Island Power, the local not-for-profit public power advocacy group.

Island Power presented 1,200 signatures asking the city to put creating a public electric utility on the ballot. The council tasked the city manager to prepare a Request for Proposal for a consultant to write a comprehensive feasibility study to inform the council and the public.

In January, City Manager Doug Schulze convened the task force, consisting of 16 community members, to draft the scope of work and review the consultants’ proposals. On May 10, the council sent the consensus recommendation of the task force back for further discussion. Several council members expressed concerned that the task force recommended a firm based too much on their low cost and ability to do a study quickly.

In my opinion, we concluded D. Hittle would provide the most accurate and unbiased study; schedule was secondary and lowest cost was not a factor. I hope that the council will select them or Brown & Kysar – both are very highly qualified firms – so that we can all see how this pencils out specifically for Bainbridge.

PSE says that 70 percent of Island ratepayers haven’t heard of the effort by Island Power to encourage the City to establish a public electric utility. Many of the 30 percent who do know of the initiative heard about it first from PSE as they have been hosting town hall phone calls and conducting phone push polling. Some citizens have become afraid that we are moving way to fast without sufficient data. Let’s close the information gap with objective analysis by skilled professionals versus information provided by PSE who stands to lose millions in profits annually.

Many issue propel the Island Power team and its growing legions of supporters. We started with a desire to stop buying dirty coal power from PSE’s Colstrip Plant in Montana. We observed reliability on the island could be so much better. We don’t want pay offshore shareholders a profit. We see technology is changing rapidly, and if we stick with PSE, they will make decisions in the interest of their shareholders and not the ratepayers, taxpayers or community. In the spirit of home rule, we would rather not see PSE make crucial infrastructure, operating and rate decisions without our input or approval.

Washington has more than 60 public electric systems ranging from tiny PUDs to the gargantuan Seattle City Light. Publics are extremely stable, with high customer satisfaction, excellent financial ratings and generally lower prices for households and businesses alike.

I am convinced this should be a great thing for Bainbridge Island. The details matter tremendously. The feasibility study is the first necessary step in a process that will take years. We want the ratepayers to learn much more about the potential benefits and potential risks so that they will vote enthusiastically for public power further down the road.

TED JONES

Bainbridge Island