Port Townsend council hints at city electric utility if voters disenfranchise PSE

PORT TOWNSEND — If voters say it’s OK to yank East Jefferson County’s electrical franchise from Puget Sound Energy, City Hall might want to be the provider in the city instead of the Jefferson County Public Utility District.

Jefferson County’s only City Council is carefully watching the debate over Proposition 1 but is not making any official announcement on where it stands.

Nonetheless, council members meeting on Monday night hinted they might be interested in forming their own electric district separate from Jefferson County Public Utility District.

PSE and the PUD are embroiled in a debate over the economics of providing electricity to East Jefferson County customers north of Mount Walker.

The city’s Alternative Electric Management Committee, an appointed group of Port Townsend residents, gave the council a brief breakdown of the debate to the City Council on Monday.

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