To the editor:

As a person who served as state senator for our community for many years, I know fact-finding matters when considering important policy issues.

So, I’m writing to urge that we encourage our city Council to vote on July 12 to study the feasibility of clean local public power for Bainbridge Island.

The council should retain the independent utility-expert firm recommended by the citizen volunteer task group the city formed to help it scope the study and vet the bidders. (I’m one of 16 citizens on that diverse volunteer group.)

The PSE monopoly power franchise agreement with our city is set to expire in a few years. That means the city has a significant local decision that a feasibility study will help us prepare for:

either to stick with PSE; or

create a “muni” or co-op power utility and rely on a long-term supply agreement with the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA), as is done in dozens of Washington communities.

The city council should focus on getting the best information available, and not worry about placing something on this fall’s busy ballot. If impartial data suggests a local utility is a smart choice, a move to form a local utility would eventually require an authorizing vote of a majority of Island voters. But first, we should obtain, digest and debate the relevant facts and not rush into a premature ballot measure.

Among the issues a feasibility study would address are reliability and frequency of electrical outages. How does PSE’s reliability compare to that of public utilities?

Another issue is the environmental case for buying 97 percent clean renewable public power, versus power supplied by PSE. In 2014 it was 59 percent from fossil fuels — more than one-third from coal. As your state senator, I chaired the Senate Committee on Energy, Water, and the Environment and, with support of many constituents from Bainbridge and elsewhere, wrote the 2011 legislation to end in-state production of power from coal. Can BPA help us to free ourselves from PSE’s Montana coal addiction?

We also need to learn the likely customer price for power either way. The multi-state Northwest Power and Conservation Council on which I serve just completed a 10-year historical analysis of our four-state region showing that customers of public utilities pay about 10 percent less for power than customers of the region’s investor owned utilities (IOUs). Advocates for a local power alternative tell us they see PSE’s current rates to be about 20 percent higher than the average of many comparable public utilities in Washington.

Finally, the proposed study would quantify the opportunities and risks going forward under either approach. For the local alternative, what are the costs and risks of financing an acquisition of the power infrastructure? For the PSE alternative, what are the rate-increase risks due to future cleanup and partial shutdown of PSE’s coal plants?

For the reasons above, please join me in urging a “yes” vote by city council at its July 12 meeting to proceed with the feasibility study.

PHIL ROCKEFELLER

Bainbridge Island