Power study will inform islanders | LETTER TO THE EDITOR

Published 11:01 am Tuesday, September 27, 2016

To the editor:

Why should Bainbridge wean itself off power from Puget Sound Energy?

How about this fact: After a leveraged buyout back in 2009, PSE is now owned by foreign investors whose investments were managed by Macquarie Capital, a private equity firm based in Australia. Their interest is not our interest. Their interest is in raking in the most money they can for their power.

When you think of Macquarie Capital and those foreign owners, think Bain Capital — not Bainbridge Island. It’s patently obvious from their surrogates’ letters to the Review that they’re spending a lot of money to protect that interest by maligning those on Bainbridge who want an alternative. But what they don’t say in those letters is revealing.

For example, did you know that at least 60 percent of PSE’s power comes from fossil fuels? Power from Bonneville Power Authority, on the other hand, is 97 percent carbon-free.

And did you know that more than half of power consumers in Washington state get their power from public nonprofit entities like the one Island Power is proposing? Those utilities include at least 15 cities and towns smaller than Bainbridge.

If those smaller municipalities can manage their own power systems, why couldn’t Bainbridge? Bainbridge has many capable people in the energy field. Why not put their expertise to work, create a few good jobs here, and let us all benefit from greener, cheaper power?

Hiring experienced power-system managers and line crew locally would give us the ultimate control over our power, take advantage of Bonneville’s low costs for public power utilities, and help us prepare for coming innovations in power such as community solar and the smart grid.

The study that the Bainbridge city council recently authorized will tell us whether this is the right direction for Bainbridge. If that study shows that it’s feasible for us to run our own power system like those many smaller municipalities, we need to answer just one question: How long do we want to remain in hock to the profit margins of foreign investors?

MARK HOFFMAN

Bainbridge Island