Thank you for the article on PUD’s no-bid contract awards for the MESA storage system. (Sunday, “Snohomish County PUD to be investigated for ethics violations.”) Although the technology seems promising, it’s disturbing that insider information may have been leveraged to create a beneficial interest for a public employee with the support of senior management.
The PUD has recently lost millions of dollars on speculative projects such as the failed geothermal plant in Garland and tidal turbine studies at Admiralty Inlet. The PUD abandoned the tidal energy project when the federal government discontinued funding when cost estimates nearly doubled, and were headed even higher. The geothermal project was an expensive dry hole.
The recently constructed Young’s Creek Dam is losing over $1 million per year and the PUD has already sunk $5.5 million into studying the Sunset Falls project that would threaten critical salmon habitat and has therefore been rejected five times previously.
The PUD spends a good chunk of our money telling us that “all is well” with our local public utility, and their propaganda works! The PUD wants you to believe that the bad news, and there is plenty, is always the fault of someone else.
Meanwhile, PUD customers pay high rates compared to other regional utilities and have endured seven rate increases over the last six years.
Ratepayers who object to any of this may do so only during weekday public meetings, because the PUD commissioners refuse all other forms of communication.
Thank goodness we have The Herald to shine a light on this questionable behavior and hopefully changes will be made.
David Wick
Marysville
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