Writers compare PSE rates to other PUDs and applaud the positives of public management. Is this the full and accurate story?
Be wary of these claims.
The center question is: Where will future power come from and at what cost? A new PUD will not have its own hydropower project providing cheap power as we see in Lewis County, Tacoma and Seattle. Nor will the public utility have any guarantee of access to hydropower supplied by the Bonneville Power Administration. Most of the BPA power is already under contract to other utilities. Yet these letter writers suggest these lower rates enjoyed in other PUD’s will be ours to have.
Management is also questionable. Look at our soaring sewer rates from the LOTT Clean Water Alliance. Does this make you feel better, or maybe not, about public management?
Finally, what about the cost of buying roughly $1 billion of PSE infrastructure at market rates? What are the real total costs to ratepayers?
Look closely at all the claims and make up your own mind.
