PORT TOWNSEND — Neither of the candidates for Jefferson County Public Utility District commissioner voted in favor of a measure to add electrical service to the PUD in 2008, an audience at a meeting of the Jefferson County Chamber of Commerce was told Monday.
“Part of me felt ideologically that having a community-owned power system was a good thing,” Kenneth Collins, 67, one of two candidates for the District 2 commissioner seat, said to about 40 people at the Elks Lodge.
“But a large utility company has a sense of scale and the resources they can move from place to place to place as needed.
“So it didn’t seem like a good idea to me.”
“PSE provided good power at a reasonable price,” said Collins’ opponent, Tony De Leo, 65.
“It had a well-maintained system and provided a lot of community support, something that if I am elected commissioner, I will fight to restore.”
In 2008, voters granted the public agency — which already provided water and sewer service — the authority to offer electrical service to East Jefferson County residents.
The vote severed a relationship with Puget Sound Energy, or PSE, that spanned about 100 years.
In May 2010, Jefferson County PUD commissioners voted to go into the electrical power business, agreeing in a nonbinding letter of intent with Puget Sound Energy to purchase its electrical system for $103 million.
The transferred assets included 19,000 residential and commercial meters, eight substations, 26.4 miles of 115-kilovolt transmission lines, 380 miles of overhead line, 353 miles of underground distribution lines and the operations building and yard at 310 Four Corners Road.
De Leo said he ran for PUD commissioner after hearing about people being shut off for nonpayment of bills last winter, something which the PUD did not do.
“There are still a lot of questions about whether we should have done this, but it is a moot point,” De Leo said.
“But the people voted and made their decision, so it’s time to move forward on what’s been built.”
De Leo said that one of his priorities if elected would be to hire needed staff in areas such as finance.
“I would provide the proper horsepower for the PUD to manage its financial operations,” he said.
“Currently we have an incredible CFO, Michael Legarsky, and if he had the proper backup, he would be able to supply a line-item budget, which is what you need to run a business.
“I don’t see how you can run a business without knowing how much it is spending and how much it is taking in.”
Collins highlighted the importance of communicating with the PUD’s customers.
“I think we need to be communicating with our customers through a variety of media and meetings,” Collins said.
“We need to try to recover some of the trust that was lost with the vote.
“People thought they were voting for one thing — lower rates.
“That hasn’t happened, and isn’t going to happen because of the debt service we’ve inherited.”
Collins said that the electricity rate should be determined in the same way as the water rate, which encourages conservation through discounts.
Collins, who lives on Marrowstone Island, is a retired business executive who runs a winery.
De Leo, also retired, is a long time Jefferson Healthcare hospital commissioner and a former Port Ludlow fire chief.
Both defeated incumbent Kenneth McMillen, 81, in the Aug. 5 primary to move on to the Nov. 4 election.
A PUD commissioner seat has a six-year term, with each district serving the same boundaries as Jefferson County commissioners.
District 2 includes Cape George, Port Hadlock and Marrowstone Island.
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Jefferson County Editor Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or cbermant@peninsuladailynews.com.
