It’s time to decide whether Thurston PUD should be allowed to offer public power
The Thurston Public Utility District is well known mainly to Thurston County residents who get their drinking water from it. This could change if and when the PUD branches out into electricity distribution. Then it will affect all of us, every day.
The Thurston Public Utility District is not presently authorized to consider providing electrical service. A 1969 state law (RCW 54.08.070) forbids it unless the voters of the Thurston PUD decide otherwise.
Power to the Public, a local public power advocacy group, is gathering signatures to put a local initiative on the ballot in November. If 10 percent of Thurston voters sign the petition by the end of June, the county commissioners will put a question on the ballot. Then we can decide whether or not our PUD can be empowered to offer electric services in the county.
Getting the question on the ballot is relatively easy, and we will probably be voting yea or nay on the possibility of public power in November. Such a question qualified for the ballot easily in 2012, but it did not pass. The state law remained a barrier to consideration of public power.
Even if voters approve a ballot measure in November, the PUD commissioners may decide not to establish an Electrical PUD — they may say “Hands off!” The PUD has managed hundreds of water systems well for years, and it has grown along with the county.
Whether we will get our power from a public utility or from a private utility depends on decisions made by our three PUD commissioners over a span of years. Even if the PUD commissioners decide to develop public power systems in Thurston County, there will be more years of planning and negotiations. It may or may not happen.
A lot of people in Thurston County would prefer a public utility to an investor-owned one. With our private utility, Puget Sound Energy, there is the problem of non-U.S. ownership, limited legal oversight, and unpredictable changes of ownership. There is concern about the high priority of profits in a private utility. A private utility may have interests and opportunities that differ from ours.
As you might imagine, PSE opposed the idea of public power in 2012, and spent considerable effort and money to help defeat the initiative. As a result, our PUD did not have an opportunity to consider electric power. The election battle was hard fought. Those who favored the passage of the ballot measure were not able to use money and influence like their opponents.
There is a lot at stake here. Public power advocates and opponents have widely divergent points of view. I am not aware of any polls of the electorate on this issue.
Our PUD commissioners have discretion, and serve at the pleasure of the voters. If the public wants public power, and if our PUD commissioners to follow our lead, then public power is possible, but years away.
How will all this impact our climate problem? Electrical power from renewable sources and electrical grid upgrades to manage supply and demand reliably is an essential part of our response to climate change. Our lives and fortunes here in Thurston County will depend mightily on the decisions made by our electric utility, public or private.
Let’s all be responsible. Decide if the initiative should be on the November ballot now, and then decide if the ballot measure should pass..