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Newspaper Archive of
Shelton Mason County Journal
Shelton, Washington
April 14, 2011     Shelton Mason County Journal
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April 14, 2011
 
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By NATALIE JOHNSON "Hell no." That was the answer the Mason County PUD 3 commission gave to the Bonneville Power Administra- tion (BPA) Tuesday to its proposed settlement for years of lawsuits over its residential exchange pro- gram. There wasn't any question of whether the PUD 3 would support the settlement or not - the PUD has long vowed to fight the settle- ment. The question was how to say it. "So do we want to say 'no' or 'Hell no?" commission chair Linda Gott asked her fellow commission- ers. The "no" option would be to not address the settlement before BPA's April 15 deadline, and effec- tively ignore it. The "Hell no" option was to vote to not sign the agreement, official- ly turning down the settlement." With a unanimous 3-0 vote, Journal file photo Mason County PUD3 commissioners voted not to sign a settlement agreement with Bonneville Power on Tuesday. the commissioners told Bonneville ofutiIties had also turned it down. where to go. BPA's settlement is the cul- The settlement would have only mination of a decade long battle been valid if 91 percent of pubic between the administration and utility districts agreed to it. Before public utilities over the residen- the PUD 3 commission agreed not tial exchange program, which sub- to sign the settlement, 14 percent sidizes private utility rates with public utility ratepayer money. The Washington State 9th Cir- cuit Court of Appeals determined that between 2002 and 2007, the PUD 3 alone was overcharged $3,595,310 for their power rates through the residential exchange program. The residential exchange pro- gram was established by the Northwest Power Act in 1980, was designed to help even out the dis- parity in power rates between in- vestor owned utilities (IOUs) and public utilities (PUDs). Basically, it allowed BPA to subsidize power rates for IOUs. Since 2000, PUD 3, along with the other public utility districts within the Washington Public Agencies Group (WPAG), have been filing lawsuits against BPA, fighting against what they have argued are illegally inflated power rates. They say that these subsi- dies have been disproportionately high. BPA's agreement, which has gone through several drafts in re- cent months, would, among other things, set the exchange rates for 17 years and prohibit utili- ties from bringing further claims against Bonneville for that time. "We feel like 17 years is a really long time," PUD 3 manager Wyla Wood said. "Bonneville cannot be trusted to look out for our best in- terest." The PUD commissioners and staff alike couldn't find anything nice to say about the settlement, which also stated that the PUDs would not receive any more of the settlement money that the 9th cir- cuit court of appeals awarded to them. "There is no value to this agree- ment," commissioner Tom Farmer said. By voting to not sign the agree- ment, the PUD joins several oth- er public utilities in the state in continuing to fight with its main power supplier over inflated power rates. I Two adults were seriously injured following a Cutoff roads on April 6. collission Journal photo by Natalie Johnson near Johns Prairie and Batstone Wreck near Johns Prairie leaves two injured By KEVAN MOORE Albertson, 26, was east- senger, identified as According to deputies, bound at the 1100 blockShelton resident Sherry witnesses told officers The Mason County of East John's Prairie M. Havens, 29, remainsthe vehicle was travel- Sheriffs Office traffic Road when it crossed the in criticalcondition after ing at excessive speed team is investigating a westbound lane strikingbeing airlifted to Har- and Albertson appeared single-car collision that a parked vehicle then borview Medical Centerto be bobbing her head left two people injured striking a tree where the in Seattle. Emergency as if she was falling on Wednesday, April 6. vehicle came to rest. responders from Fire asleep. According to the sher- Albertson sufferedDistrict 5 needed to use Investigators cited iffs office, a 1997 Fordminor injuries and wasthe "Jaws of Life" to ex- causing factors of the Escort driven by Shel- transported to Mason tricate Havens from the collision as drowsiness ton resident Charlotte S. General Hospital. A pas- vehicle, and excessive speed. City n By NATALIE JOHNSON After months of discussions and delays, the Shelton city commission approved new water rates and utility tax Mon- day. Although the city commission had a public hearing on the proposed rates and increase in the utility tax during their meeting on April 4, they delayed voting on the ordi- nances for another week to give time for more public com- ment on the issue. The city's Community and Economic Developn~ept' ~': .... rector Steve Goins said that during the W~ek he ~ttet ~- the Shelton-Mason County Chamber of Commerce's Gov- ernment Affairs Committee (GAC), which had expressed concern over the new water rate ordinance, which included an increase in commercial water rates. Although the GAC was concerned over the increase in water rates, the commission approved the increase. =The commercial rates were artificially low," said city commissioner Dawn Pannell. "Nobody wants to pay more but if it's equitable that's the best we can do." The city needed to increase it's utility tax to cover fire protection for the city, which according to a recent court case, Lane vs. Seattle, must be covered through the general fund and not water rates. The increased water rates outlined in the new ordinance are designed to pay for increases in infrastructure for the city's water system in the coming years, outlined in the water comprehensive plan, adopted through a resolution at the city's April 4 meeting. Mayor John Tarrant spoke about the need to increase water rates, which he said increase water rates about 39 percent over six years, to pay for this infrastructure. "We don't want to get caught by not having things up- dated," He said. # Fir Lane Health and Rehab is NOW HIRING Registered Nurses to join our front line staffi Fir Lane is now under new management! We are located in the quiet community of Sbelton, WA just 25 minutes from the city life of Olympia and minutes away from the beautiful Puget Sound and Hood Canal, A perfect place for those who enjoy the best of both worlds! We are looking for positive high energy individuals that match our company's mission to provide the best care in the industry for our residents. If you are interested in joining a team like ours, you must Have an active Washington RN License and share the passion for patient care. CNA's are also encouraged to apply. Fir Lane is located at 2430 N. 13th, Shelton, WA 98584 Please visit us online to apply at www.extendicare.com EOE Page A-2 - Shelton-Mason County Journal -Thursday, April 14, 2011