Thurston PUD delays decision on electric takeover study

Meeting before an overflow crowd, the Thurston County Public Utility District commissioners deferred action Tuesday night on a vote to approve a study of the pros and cons of the utility going into the electric service business.

More than 15 people testified among the 50 in attendance – some offering support for a PUD takeover of the Puget Sound Energy electrical system in Thurston County and others saying the public utility should leave the state’s largest investor-owned utility alone.

The $50,000 feasibility study was put on hold long enough for the utility commissioners to do some fact-finding of their own on topics such as the rough estimated cost of borrowing hundreds of millions of dollars to buy out PSE and the availability of low-cost federal hydropower from the Bonneville Power Administration if the utility went into the electric business.

The meeting marked the first in what promises to be a highly charged series of activities and events to decide whether public power has a future in Thurston County.

Meanwhile, a newly formed nonprofit group, Thurston Public Power Initiative, launched a petition drive last week for an initiative on the November ballot, asking voters if they want the PUD to take over electrical service in Thurston County from Puget Sound Energy.

The group has until July 6 to gather more than 12,000 signatures to qualify for the ballot. They group has collected hundreds of signatures in the first few days of campaigning, TPPI founding member John Pearce said.

Several speakers voiced support for the feasibility study, including TPPI member Doug Riddels of Olympia, who said public utilities can provide electricity at lower costs – at least 10 percent lower – because they don’t operate to make a profit.

“If the feasibility study comes back saying it doesn’t make sense, we’ll go away,” Pearce said.

Several PSE officials attended the meeting and claimed Thurston County residents are far better off with their company’s continued service.

“You’re trying to force Puget Sound Energy to sell something they don’t want to sell,” noted Saint Martin’s University student Joseph Patti. “And you don’t have the money to buy it.”

The company plans to spend $100 million on system improvements in Thurston County in the next five years and has made investments in green-energy power four times greater than all the state’s public utilities combined, PSE spokesman Andy Wappler said.

PSE electric rates are the highest in the state. But Wappler suggested a public-utility takeover in Thurston County probably would cost several hundred million dollars and might not lead to lower electric rates, especially in the early years of the purchase while the debt is being paid off.

“Should customers pay hundreds of millions of dollars for a product they’re already receiving?” Wappler asked.

Puget Sound Energy was granted a 3 p.m. workshop with the PUD commissioners at their next meeting, Jan. 24.

“Puget Sound Energy is doing everything they can to stack the deck,” Pearce claimed. “If this goes through, it’s a huge loss of customer base for them.”

Pearce added that the purchase of the electric system could take place over 10 years, reducing the debt burden to the public utility and its ratepayers.

“There’s an awful lot more to this than appears on the surface,” PUD Commissioner Alan Corwin said. “We’re not taking this casually. We want to do it right.”

Corwin has expressed caution about approving a feasibility study at this time. Commissioner Chris Stearns is the most enthusiastic about it, and Commissioner Paul Pickett, who is up for re-election in the fall, has supported it, but also called for more internal study first.

John Dodge: 360-754-5444

jdodge@theolympian.com