To the editor:

Island Power claims on its website that power from Bonneville Power Administration would be “renewable” and “100 percent carbon-free.” What a great deal! But let’s look at these claims more closely.

The Energy Independence Act promotes the development of renewable energy in Washington state. RCW 19.285.030 defines an eligible renewable resource to include electricity from wind, solar and geothermal generation.

This definition does NOT include electricity from BPA’s dams. Island Power knows this fact, yet refuses to modify its website to correctly describe the power that Bainbridge Island would receive from BPA.

Nor is BPA power 100 percent carbon-free. To be sure, this power is largely emission-free, and certainly less dirty than coal-fired generation. There is still some carbon, however.

As BPA concedes in a document on Island Power’s website: “The agency cannot claim that its power has no carbon content.” So why does Island Power claim that this power has no carbon?

There’s one other issue to consider. Earlier this month, the U.S. District Court rebuked federal agencies for their mismanagement of the Lower Snake River dams — a key power source for BPA. Agreeing with the Sierra Club, the NW Energy Coalition, and other environmental groups, the court concluded that the agencies have failed in their efforts to protect endangered wild salmon from the dams’ harmful effects.

From an environmental standpoint, therefore, power from BPA might not be such a great deal after all.

DAVID JOHNSON

Bainbridge Island