PORT HADLOCK — If voters pass Proposition 1, Jefferson County Public Utility District commissioners expect to begin serious talks and more in-depth study on providing electric power to the county after Jan. 1 when a newly elected commissioner is sworn in on the board.
The proposal to give Jefferson County PUD the authority to provide electric service was passing after Tuesday night’s first general election results — 8,092 voting yes, or 53.96 percent, to 6,903 no, or 46.04 percent.
The Jefferson County Auditor’s office is scheduled to count more votes on Friday. As of Wednesday, it had 3,767 unprocessed ballots.
PUD General Manager Jim Parker, meanwhile, presented to the PUD commissioners a draft letter Wednesday that asks Puget Sound Energy if it is interested in selling its facilities in East Jefferson County to the local utility.
Park explained that the letter, which would also go to the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission, which regulates PSE — which has served Jefferson County for more than 100 years — was merely a means of beginning negotiations.
“We would just send it to PSE saying, ‘Hey, you want to sell your stuff?'” Parker said.
The letter would not be mailed to PSE until after the PUD commissioners approved its wording.
“I thought it was a good letter to get off to them to get in their queue,” Parker said.
If the PUD commissioners decide to move forward after study and discussion, they would either negotiate with PSE for the company’s power infrastructure, or go through court condemnation proceedings.
PUD Commissioner Dana Roberts, of Port Townsend, said Wednesday he fully expects Proposition 1 to pass, given a plus or minus of 2 percent in voting differentiation after the new vote tally on Friday.
Jefferson PUD commissioners would consider hiring a consultant to further study local electric service and many discussions and public meetings on the topic were likely ahead in 2009.
“We certainly are going to have meetings around the county,” Roberts said.
“We will be listening and trying to find ways to make it advantageous to provide energy service . . . I think we will benefit from it and our citizens will benefit if we are able to come up with more of an economic feasibility study and community discussion.”
PSE response
Should a clear majority of voters approve Proposition 1, PSE spokeswoman Davina Gruenstein on Wednesday said, “We would seriously look at it.
“If the vote doesn’t end up in our favor, we would surely further the process to ensure its a smooth process for both sides, and we’ll provide information.
“We certainly won’t be difficult in the process.”
Asked why the proposition was passing in Jefferson County but that similar measures in Island or Skagit counties are failing, Gruenstein said, “The pulse in each of the communities is very different.”
It’s not about the campaign spending, she said.
“It’s just about the heart of the community.”
PSE shareholders contributed nearly $250,000 to campaign against the measure in Jefferson County and about $1 million in all three counties where the question of local electric service authority was on the ballot.
Other counties
In Skagit County, Proposition 1, which would have given the local public utility district the authority to provide electrical power, was losing with 18,287 votes, or 51.7 percent, opposed, to 17,055 votes, or 48.3 percent, approving after voting closed on Tuesday in the general election.
In Island County, a proposition to create a Whidbey Island-based power company was losing by 16,567 votes to 8,251.
Roberts and fellow Commissioner Wayne King, say they believe the Jefferson County proposal was passing because it was initiated by a campaign support group, Citizens for Local Power, rather than the PUD commissioners or the Clallam County commissioners.
Early on in the effort, the Jefferson County PUD commissioners declined to consider a resolution supporting the movement to create local electric service.
“I think the way it went down, that’s the way it should have been done,” King said, praising Citizens for Local Power for moving quickly to secure enough registered voter signatures on petitions to place Proposition 1 on the ballot, then aggressively informing voters around the county.
Roberts said he believes the measure was supported in Jefferson County largely because PUD already provides water and sewer service to more than 3,000 customers.
‘Trust is earned’
In contrast, he said, Island County local power supporters were trying to start PUD power service from scratch without elected leadership.
King agreed with Roberts, saying, “Trust is earned. You don’t elect trust, you elect individuals and his actions are what you trust.”
Skagit County PUD commissioners took the resolution route to place the matter on the ballot, unlike Jefferson County’s grass-roots movement, and Roberts said he believes that’s why support was falling behind there.
Steve Johnson, Washington Public Utility District Association executive director , concurred with Roberts’ and King’s assessment of why the proposition was passing in Jefferson County.
WPUDA has sent a letter to the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission, stating that Puget Sound Energy should offer to sell its distribution system to local communities before selling the company to foreign investors.
PSE is in the process of finalizing a deal to sell the company to a consortium of foreign investors led by the Macquarie Bank of Australia.
Communities that oppose foreign ownership of their electric company, such as Jefferson County, feel they can do a better job of providing service than PSE, Johnson said, and they should have an opportunity to buy their local distribution systems.
PSE announced its plan to sell the company to the Macquarie-led consortium a year ago. The buyout has been approved by PSE stockholders, who would get $30 per share, and by federal regulators.
The state utilities and transportation commission has the final say, and has indicated it will issue a decision after the November election result are counted.
Johnson said he expects Jefferson County will win with its “unique community” and volunteers interested in taking action.
“I thought the folks who were leading the movement there really knew what they were doing,” Johnson said.
Bill Wise, Citizens for Local Power co-facilitator, painted a picture similarly to Roberts on why Jefferson voters were supporting local power service over PSE but not so much in Skagit or Island counties.
“I think each county had its unique characteristics,” Wise said, with Jefferson supporters starting their campaign early in the year and Island County later.
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Port Townsend-Jefferson County Editor Jeff Chew can be reached at 360-385-2335 or at jeff.chew@peninsuladailynews.com.
