Hello Neighbors,
For those of you who are interested, there are two meetings this week which PUD is providing to the public to get caught up on their preliminary studies regarding the proposed dam above Canyon Falls near Index. Also mark your calendars for March 5th for the Sierra Club presentation about the south fork of the Skykomish.
There is a lot going on! Tell your friends and neighbors… For those of you with an interest in legal matters, be sure to ask about the possibility of PUD taking private property via eminent domain. The current PUD language is that “we are not taking any residences”; let us find out about vacant lots and vacation cabins. Other areas of concern are:
- What will the annual cost be to ratepayers for operation of the trap-and-haul?
- What is the estimated annual cost/kilowatt hour to run this facility, based on best estimates of current flows?
- PUD suggests that the dam and hydropower plant will operate at less than half of operational capacity during all but April, May, and June. These three months are not the time of highest demand but are the months when Bonneville Power is producing more power than it can distribute or sell.
- “Conservation is the resource of choice for meeting the PUD’s load growth.” Why not use the substantial financial resources that will be required to build this dam (which would produce only 1% of SnoPUD’s power) to promote conservation instead?
- Excavations associated with this project can be calculated to generate over 300,000 tons of rock to be hauled away. What impact will this have on State Route 2, a road which consistently makes the top ten list of the nation’s deadliest highways?
- If this project is not developed, what adverse effects – if any – will there be to ratepayers?
- What is the cost-benefit analysis for this project?
For more information, visit PUD’s webpage about damming above Canyon Falls and Sunset Falls. Note the new name of the project!
Upcoming PUD public meetings are to be:
WEDNESDAY 2/27 (Everett)
6:00 to 9:00 p.m.
Electric Building, PUD Headquarters
2320 California Street in Everett
THURSDAY 2/28 (Sultan)
5:00 to 8:00 p.m.
Sultan High School Commons
13715 – 310th Avenue SE in Sultan
Also…
March 5th at the Mountlake Terrace Library: “Energy Alternatives to Building a Dam On the Skykomish River” (Mountlake Terrace Library).
For driving directions: http://www.sno-isle.org/?ID=1204
Tuesday, March 5th, 7:00 pm – 8:15 pm
“This second part of this series explores Energy Alternatives to Building a Dam on the Skykomish River. Seasoned experts will talk about other avenues that we can use to meet our current and future needs, and leave this river free-flowing, and, alternatively, why a dam may be the right answer.”
This dam really could happen.
Apathy is the enemy, not PUD! Please become informed and get involved. Decisions really are made by those who show up.
— Lynne K.
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