Let me see if I understand correctly. A whistleblower from inside PUD says that PUD is paying 1Energy Systems, a startup company, $16.2 million in contracts without competitive bids and this doesn’t seem right. PUD Commissioners hire an attorney to investigate PUD. The attorney that PUD hires finds that PUD didn’t follow their own procedures and that allowed the “appearance” of impropriety.
Dave Kaplan was hired as an employee of PUD for $193,440 per year prior to his creating 1Energy. He worked “…side by side with the same executives who would ultimately advocate to the Commission (PUD Commission) that it approve the contract with his company, 1Energy,” the report says.
I believe it would have been more informative had the article included the following paragraph from the investigating attorney: “Given the distinctive nature of the contractual undertaking, and Mr. Kaplan’s recent employment at the Utility and unique access to insider information that gave him a competitive advantage, it would also have been advisable for the Utility to arrange for an independent review of the contract. That could have been achieved by seeking guidance outside the Utility from a third party with the requisite expertise and no stake in the outcome.”
It also seems pertinent to know that 1Energy has hired the former director of the Washington state Department of Commerce and the Deputy Director of the state Department of Commerce. Political insiders do not seem to me to be experts in energy storage.
Finally, the accusation by Mr. Klein that the whistle blower was attempting to “undermine PUD’s successful policies” and “destroy the reputation of commissioners and staff” is obviously contradicted by the facts in PUD’s own investigation.
Tom Balt
Snohomish
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