PSE pursues obsolete project

“Energize Eastside continues to move forward.”

So begins PSE’s latest newsletter announcing new permit applications to build an 18-mile, 230,000-volt transmission line. These permits were requested in Newcastle and Renton, following an application in Bellevue. However, PSE is ignoring the reality that conditions have significantly changed during the last four years, invalidating assumptions PSE previously used to justify the project. Here are the realities of 2018:

• Due to LED lighting, more efficient heating, and improved devices, electricity consumption is not increasing as PSE predicted four years ago. Consumption trends are flat or declining in Bellevue, Seattle, and other Northwest cities.
• Canada has become energy independent and does not need large amounts of electricity that PSE previously identified as a threat to Eastside reliability.
• Batteries are now cheaper, safer, and better for the environment than a destructive transmission line. They also provide better reliability.
• Bonneville Power Administration recently cancelled a huge transmission line in southwestern Washington, finding modern technology and batteries would save customers hundreds of millions of dollars.

Despite these facts, PSE continues to pursue an obsolete and outdated project to benefit its Australian and Canadian owners. The Eastside’s energy future should be guided by our community values and stewardship of the environment, not corporate balance sheets.

You can hear the latest information from PSE and CENSE at a public meeting in Newcastle this Wednesday, Jan. 31, 6:30-8 p.m. at Vera Risdon Middle School (6928 116th Ave. SE, Newcastle). The focus of this meeting is the Newcastle permit, but general information about the project (and problems associated with it) will be available from PSE and CENSE. All Eastside residents are welcome to attend.

We hope to see you there. Wear orange if you support CENSE!