Appeal Hearing: No Decision Bellevue City Council needs a month to decideThe Bellevue City Council heard testimony tonight from PSE and CENSE regarding the Hearing Examiner's decision in favor of permitting Energize Eastside.CENSE was one of five appellants to submit a legal complaint stating that PSE did not study [...]

Join us at Energize Eastside appeal, Oct. 16 Join us for a historic decisionOn Wednesday, October 16th, the Bellevue City Council will hear five appeals challenging an examiner's recommendation to approve the South Bellevue segment of PSE's Energize Eastside project. This is arguably the most consequential appeal the council [...]

Bellevue Mayor Chelminiak will not recuse himself from the appeal hearing BIG NEWS - Bellevue Mayor Chelminiak just notified CENSE that he will not recuse himself from the appeal hearing. In his explanation, Chelminiak stated, "I have had no involvement in the decisions concerning the content or timing of [...]

UPDATE: Bellevue Mayor Chelminiak refuses to recuse himself. Details here. CENSE requests recusal of MayorComplaint cites biasUPDATE 15 October: Bellevue Mayor Chelminiak refuses to recuse himself. Details here.The attorney for CENSE, Rick Aramburu, has requested Bellevue Mayor John Chelminiak to recuse himself from the Energize Eastside appeal hearing that [...]

PSE Cancels TAG Meeting for August 2019 In January 2019, PSE scheduled a special meeting of its Technical Advisory Group to answer basic questions regarding the need for Energize Eastside. On July 23rd, PSE suddenly canceled the August 6th meeting. The company claimed it could not discuss Energize Eastside [...]

Election information, critical meeting canceled Energize Eastside questions are not answeredIn this news update...CENSE election recommendationsPSE cancels Energize Eastside meetingPSE tries to influence electionsCENSE election recommendationsMany people have asked if CENSE will endorse candidates for city council races in the August primary. Our volunteers have spent many hours preparing [...]

Appeals filed against Energize Eastside decision Appeal hearing expected this fallIn our previous newsletter, CENSE reported that Bellevue's Hearing Examiner had approved PSE's permits to build Energize Eastside.Yesterday, Bellevue received five appeals (see below) contesting findings of fact and conclusions from that decision.CENSE identified 90 erroneous findings of fact [...]

Hearing Examiner issues ruling on 3.2 mile South Bellevue segment of Energize Eastside The fight is not over! Bellevue Hearing Examiner Gary McLean approved PSE's Conditional Land Use Permit Application for the South Bellevue segment of Energize Eastside on June 25, 2019.Hearing Examiner Decision DocumentsThe Decision (PDF, 1M)Conditions of [...]

Coalition seeks cooperation with PSE's board See Update belowWashington Governor Jay Inslee recently signed the "Washington Clean Energy Transformation Act." This ground-breaking law requires PSE to cut greenhouse gas emissions and transform our energy grid to reduce harm to the environment.CENSE helped to lead a large coalition of neighborhood [...]

Energize Eastside Public Hearing Proceedings The Public Hearing was scheduled for 6 PM to 10 PM on Thursday, March 28th. Because of the many members of the public that wanted to speak, the hearing was continued into Friday. It ended up taking the entire day, from 10 AM to [...]

CENSE Files Two Motions to Hearing Examiner CENSE attorney Rick Aramburu filed two motions to the Hearing Examiner in advance of the Energize Eastside public hearing on March 28th 2019.The first motion is to compel PSE to release data that justifies the need for Energize Eastside (or so PSE [...]

Highlights:Mark your calendar: Energize Eastside public hearing March 28thCENSE is working on your behalf, filing motions and preparing for hearing300 Trees UpdateEnergize Eastside Public HearingMARK YOUR CALENDARMarch 28th • 6 pm • Bellevue City HallCENSE urges you to attend Bellevue's public hearing on Energize Eastside (other cities will hold [...]

Energize Eastside Hearing Coming Up Important Developments for Energize Eastside:City of Bellevue staff recommends approval of Energize EastsidePublic hearing scheduled for March 28thResident written and oral comments can influence hearing outcomeThe City of Bellevue has published a 150-page staff report recommending the approval of Energize Eastside. The staff's recommendation [...]

Community Forum, Dec. 6th What's best for Bellevue?Forty years ago, smart city planners designed a tree-lined avenue in East Bellevue. As a result of their foresight, 148th Avenue provides efficient access to homes and businesses between two freeways while preserving the feeling of a "City in a Park."In a few [...]

UTC considers PSE sale Local action has broader impactSelling PSEMacquarie, the Australian investment bank that owns 44% of PSE, wants to sell its share of the company to Canadian and Dutch pension funds. The Utilities and Transportation Commission (UTC) was ready to approve the deal before CENSE, along with environmental [...]

Did Seattle just kill Energize Eastside? New forecast raises hard questions The latest electric load forecast from Seattle City Light raises questions about PSE’s forecast for the Eastside. Seattle expects its load to decline 5% by 2024 and continue falling for the next decade. PSE claims Eastside load will [...]

Rally on Saturday to Save Our Trees "We speak for the trees"Please come to our rally for East Bellevue’s trees!When: Saturday, Sept. 29, 10:00 AMWhere: Corner of 148th Ave and Main St in East BellevueThis is our best chance to save 300 trees from PSE’s unnecessary and ugly power [...]

Demand better reliability from PSE 10-year agreement is our best chance On the last Wednesday of July, as temperatures soared to 90 degrees, many south Bellevue neighborhoods lost power for several hours. This outage would not have been prevented by Energize Eastside or any other power line PSE [...]

Australian bank to sell 44% of PSE Buyers are Canadian and Dutch pension funds Macquarie, the Australian investment bank that owns 44% of PSE, recently announced its plan to sell its shares to two pension funds from Canada and the Netherlands. Here is PSE's press release: Puget [...]

Coalition Groups take Action this Friday Please join us! CENSE will join the Faith Action Climate Team, Protectors of the Salish Sea, and Sierra Club for an "interfaith ceremony" to be held at PSE headquarters in downtown Bellevue starting at 11:45 AM this Friday, June 1. Where: Bellevue [...]