PORT ANGELES — The Clallam County Public Utility District, Jefferson County PUD and Port Townsend Paper Corp. have agreed to shift ownership of power lines and poles near Discovery Bay.
The agreement of intent was one of the final steps in a deal to transfer 7.7 miles of power lines and 137 power poles from the Clallam PUD to the Jefferson PUD.
Port Townsend Paper was included in the contract because the company is located in the Jefferson PUD service area but is contracted to purchase power through the Clallam PUD.
The Clallam County PUD commissioners signed the agreement Wednesday, while the Jefferson PUD approved it April 9 and Port Townsend Paper on April 10.
More steps are required before the transfer is complete, but the current agreement is one that makes it all possible, said John Purvis, Clallam PUD engineering manager.
Clallam PUD will transfer the Fairmount Line, the Four Corners Line and the Clallam Switches — each located on the east side of Discovery Bay — to the Jefferson PUD for the price of $1.
In return, the Jefferson PUD will make half of Jefferson’s unused capacity available to Clallam as backup capacity for future needs, Purvis said.
If Clallam were to keep the lines located in the Jefferson PUD service area, it would have to register with the state as a transmission owner-operator and would have a year to add a 24-hour dispatcher, provide training for dispatchers and meet other regulatory requirements.
“The consideration is the avoidance of significant fees,” Mitchell said.
Fees and expenses to meet those requirements could reach as much as $400,000 to $500,000 per year, he said.
If the transfer is not complete by June 30, the Clallam PUD will begin the process to meet regulatory requirements by June 30, 2015.
The transfer includes all facilities — real property, structures, poles and attachments, conductors, insulators and switches — originating at Clallam pole 2902251462 located outside the Bonneville Power Authority’s Fairmount Substation and terminating at and including a pole and switch at Four Corners.
The sale does not include the Clallam PUD’s switch west of Jefferson’s Discovery Bay Substation and the Discovery Bay Switching Station.
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Reporter Arwyn Rice can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5070, or at arwyn.rice@peninsuladailynews.com.
