Letter: PUDs are simply wrong on I-1631

Benton and Franklin PUDs should be ashamed of themselves.

I was disappointed to learn that our local PUD commissions oppose I-1631, the upcoming ballot initiative. In Annette Cary’s article on Sept. 11, she reported that both PUDs have passed resolutions in opposition: Franklin did so in August, and Benton followed suit in September. This is an incredibly backward and irresponsible thing to do.

Putting a price on carbon via a fee is by far the best solution to cleaner air and more-sustainable energy. It is a market-based incentive to invest in less-deadly forms of power generation, which is something we should all be able to embrace. A fee is far better than increased regulation, which really will increase prices.

The PUDs griping about higher prices is nothing more than a scare tactic, designed to shift public opinion against I-1631. Franklin PUD itself estimated the initiative’s impact to only be about a 1 percent rate increase. Furthermore, Benton and Franklin PUDs already source most of their power mix from carbon-free sources: 92 and 93 percent, respectively. Utility bills will only rise significantly if our PUDs are shortsighted enough to increase the percentage of their power mix obtained from carbon-based sources.