PORT HADLOCK — Jefferson County Public Utility District commissioners may decide Monday if the agency will go into the electrical power business.
Nearly 18 months ago, voters granted the public agency the authority to provide East Jefferson County customers electric service.
Puget Sound Energy, a private business, now provides such service.
Following an hour-long closed executive session at 5 p.m. Monday at the PUD offices, 230 Chimacum Road in Port Hadlock, the board is scheduled to reconvene in open meeting and may take action on the proposed acquisition of PSE’s electric service facilities in East Jefferson County.
“When we come out of that [closed meeting], we could be making a deal,” said appointed PUD Commissioner Barney Burke, who attended a closed four-hour meeting Friday with fellow Commissioners Ken McMillen and Wayne King.
“We don’t know if we have a deal yet,” Burke added.
If the commissioners take a vote Monday, it will be on a nonbinding letter of intent outlining all the terms negotiated, Burke said.
“It will not be the last decision on this,” he emphasized, saying such a vote would be the beginning of the next phase of the PUD moving into the position of providing electrical power.
If an agreement is reached, then details about costs, responsibilities and deadlines will be both released to the news media, put on the PUD’s Web site at http://pud.co. jefferson.wa.us and reviewed in detail during a public meeting Wednesday, Burke said.
Anticipating the possibility of a decision, the PUD has reserved the Chimacum Grange, 9572 Rhody Drive, a larger venue than the PUD’s conference room in Port Hadlock, for Wednesday’s regular meeting, which will begin at 5 p.m.
The larger venue was chosen so that more people could attend Wednesday to hear more details of the deal should it be struck with PSE on Monday, Burke said.
“The purpose of Wednesday night is to have a workshop, to give people a chance to ask questions and make comments,” he said.
“If you don’t come Monday, you will not miss the last chance for input,” he said he wants the public to know. “You will have a better chance on Wednesday because more information will have been available.”
Public power is listed as a discussion item on the meeting agenda, and PUD’s Portland, Ore., attorney, Kirk Gibson is expected to attend to address details of the deal if it is reached, Burke said.
King and PUD General Manager Jim Parker have been the chief negotiators for PUD.
Burke said commissioners expect PSE officials to bring [a non-binding letter of intent] to the Monday meeting.
“Our plan is, if we sign, that we will be able then to get the information out,” he said.
“We’re anxious to share once we get a deal.”
PUD commissioners, as a prerequisite to opening and maintaining negotiations with PSE executives — including Chief Executive Officer Steve Reynolds and the PSE facilitator in the process, Karl Karzmar — were required to sign a confidentiality agreement, which the commissioners have abided by for more than a year.
The PUD commissioners in February set a loose deadline of mid-April on whether the public agency that now provides water and sewer will get into the public power business.
Jefferson County voters in a November 2008 election granted PUD the authority to get into the electrical business, which could include the option of acquiring PSE’s power system that serves more than 18,000 East County customers.
PUD now serves more than 3,200 water customers in East Jefferson County but has never provided electrical power service.
Representatives of the group that successfully campaigned to get voters to grant PUD the authority to acquire a power system and produce electric service — Citizens for Local Power — have asked PUD commissioners to conduct a more open process but the commissioners said their hands were tied by the confidentiality agreement.
Without the confidentiality agreement, they said, there would be no progress toward striking a deal with PSE.
By state law, the PUD has 10 years to exercise its authority.
A great part of the idea behind establishing local Jefferson County electric service is that nonprofit tax-paid PUDs, including those in Clallam and Mason counties, qualify for discount power rates from Bonneville Power Administration.
Private companies such as PSE, do not qualify for lower BPA discount rates and are subject to Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission oversight.
PUD consultant D. Hittle & Associates Inc. nearly two years ago estimated a cost of PSE’s facilities ranging from $35 million to $70 million, while PSE representatives have quoted a figure of $100 million or more.
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Port Townsend-Jefferson County Editor Jeff Chew can be reached at 360-385-2335 or at jeff.chew@peninsuladailynews.com.