Extra power has PUD singing, ‘It’s not easy buying green’

By Jennifer Langston

Herald Writer

The Snohomish County PUD has dramatically cut back the amount of renewable energy it’s buying — at least for the time being.

It decided to let its largest contract for wind energy and fish-friendly hydropower lapse in October. If that isn’t replaced, the utility will have cut its renewable energy purchases by almost two-thirds.

A new program the utility is launching in January will allow customers who want pollution-free power from windmills to pay extra for it.

But that’s expected to replace only a tiny fraction of the lost green power.

Customers in the past have also said they prefer having everyone share the costs of investing in less-polluting energy, rather than programs that add surcharges.

"We’re disappointed the commission has apparently retreated from its commitment to renewable energy," said Nancy Hirsh, policy director for the NW Energy Coalition, a regional group that lobbies for conservation, renewable energy and consumer protection.

John White, assistant general manager for the PUD, said the district didn’t renew the green contract because it ended up buying more power than it needs right now.

When it was signing contracts earlier in the year, it didn’t anticipate the sputtering economy or the Boeing Co.’s woes. Both have reduced demand for energy in Snohomish County.

Renewing the green energy contract this fall — which provided enough electricity to power about 6,000 homes — didn’t make sense because the PUD already had more power than it could use, White said.

Instead, it shifted $1 million it would have spent on renewable energy to conservation programs for the rest of the year.

There is money in next year’s budget to buy additional green energy, White said, but it’s unclear whether the demand will be there. There is a chance it won’t be replaced at all.

The PUD still buys renewable energy from a central Washington plant powered by methane gases from rotting garbage in a county landfill. That contract is half as large as the one that lapsed.

PUD Commissioner Cynthia First, who has worked in utility conservation programs and pledged to lobby for renewable energy during her campaign three years ago, said the utility is still committed to buying as much as possible.

But given the 53 percent rate hike consumers had to weather this year, the commissioners are reluctant to do anything to drive prices higher.

"We don’t want to be adding any more rate pressure that we don’t have to right now," she said. "We’re saying ‘Let’s give people a breather.’ They’re conserving like crazy and doing everything they can right now."

She said the PUD would continue to invest in conservation, which is considered the most environmentally friendly solution. But she couldn’t predict how much renewable energy it would be buying next year.

"The jury’s still out on that," she said. "I think we can get away with doing some renewables, but what the mix is going to be, I don’t know."

Hirsh said the step backwards was particularly disappointing since the PUD was once at the forefront of buying renewable energy.

In 1999, it was the first utility in the state to sign an agreement with the federal Bonneville Power Administration for environmentally friendly power.

"It was certainly progressive," said Angus Duncan, president of the Bonneville Environmental Foundation, a non-profit that sells renewable energy and funds related research with those profits.

"Now there are a number of utilities around the region who are doing pretty respectable things in the way of renewables, and we’re hopeful Snohomish will be in the hunt," he said.

Seattle City Light, for instance, recently committed to buy 100 megawatts of wind energy, 10 times what the PUD had been buying, from a new project near Walla Walla.

Northwest Energy Coalition’s Hirsh said one lesson utilities should have learned during the last year — when energy market prices spiked out of control and then fell back to earth — is that renewable energy costs don’t fluctuate wildly. Wind and sun are free, unlike fossil fuels that come with varying prices.

"From our perspective, now is the time to go toward resources that have more stability and don’t expose customers to that volatility," she said. "This is not a time to cut back but to be more aggressive."

You can call Herald Writer Jennifer Langston at 425-339-3452 or send e-mail to langston@heraldnet.com.

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