Public Power, Yes: keep local control

Voters in Skagit County, eastern Jefferson County and Whidbey Island have a historic choice Nov. 4:

Whether to buy out Puget Sound Energy's local electric works with a public utility district. Because we oppose the proposed sale of Puget Sound Energy to foreign interests, we support a "yes" vote on all three measures.

These elections are a way for the public to be heard on the proposed takeover of Puget by government pension funds in Canada and the nouveau riche Macquarie Bank of Australia — a takeover we believe is a thoroughly bad idea. Some members of the public have been heard at hearings of the Utilities and Transportation Commission, and almost all of them oppose the takeover. But they may be ignored. On Nov. 4 comes the word from voters — a group politicians and their appointees tend not to ignore.

The three members of the UTC — appointees of Gov. Christine Gregoire — will decide whether to allow the takeover. Because Gregoire is up for re-election, we're guessing her appointees won't approve it before Nov. 4, though they might reject it. If they do not reject it by Nov. 4, we invite the voters to do the honors. Send a message that you don't want to buy your electricity from a bank in Australia.

Voters will be doing more than that. They will be authorizing a public agency to condemn Puget's local electric works in their name, force a sale, and to charge them for the assets. Whether this makes sense depends on how much ratepayers would have to pay, and they cannot know before Nov. 4. Their vote is not on a decision to condemn, but to empower three elected PUD commissioners to make a preliminary decision, fight Puget in court, and decide whether to accept the price the court sets.

Puget has reported more than $900,000 in spending to fight the three ballot measures, outspending public-power activists more than 10 to 1. Its ads are raising worries about the purchase price, the amount electric rates will go up at first and the competence of the PUD commissioners. These are all genuine risks. But the PUD activists of the 1930s and 1940s accepted those risks and created Clallam PUD, Snohomish PUD and other PUDs that have had rates lower than Puget's for decades.

The main reason why PUD rates are lower than Puget's is that federal law gives public agencies favored access to cheap federal hydropower. A block of this power is reserved for new PUDs, and by voting yes the people in Skagit, Island and Jefferson counties can claim it for themselves.

They can also send a political statement about local control.