Letters to the Editor: Oct. 10, 2024

Elect Stuebe in 17th District As a former Washougal resident, I am pleased to see that David Stuebe — a proven leader — seeks to represent the 17th Legislative District in Olympia. He is tested as a colonel in the Marine Corps and supporter for economic development. He will be a strong link to our state initiatives and Southwest Washington’s quality of life. Lucia Worthington, Vancouver Skamania County PUD Commission candidate to host meetups My name is Maria Mel Steele. I have lived in the Pacific Northwest and worked as a public civil servant in natural resources since 1980. Skamania has been my home for 16 years. I’m now retired after working in the Bonneville Power administration building in Portland as a planning forester for the Department of Interior, Bureau of Indian Affairs Northwest Regional Office. The areas of public policy I’m personally most passionate about these days are Skamania County Public Utility District’s (PUD) management policies. The Public Utility District is self-regulated by local PUD commissioners. In Skamania, the private sector’s playbook has been driving up PUD rates, and ratepayers are outraged. The incumbent PUD commissioner, Dan Boyes, admits to raising rates and has his excuses. The truth is he was appointed originally and then promptly voted in and completely changed PUD rate policies. Then-PUD General Manager John Goodman imposed this “rate hearing” in 2019 cloaked as “cost of service study.” This was developed by a private company, FCS Group, under the directives of John Goodman. From its inception in 1940, until around 2018, the Skamania PUD used industrial standards of “don’t fix it unless it is broken,” — a base rate covering meter reading and billing administration and usage rates covering maintenance, operations and repairs. This all changed under John Goodman, whose management style seems to be “replace everything, as much is aging, with substations and meters.” However, no documentation supported this. His previous employer, McKinstry, was awarded a blank-check AMI Smart Meter capital project contract on the electrical side. I’m against the 2019 to 2024 rates and price-gouging and definitely consider it unfair and unjust. Voters pamphlets will be mailed out Oct. 18, along with mail-in ballot options to follow soon after. You can meet me in person, ask questions, or make comments on anything energy-related and get informational handouts on the following dates: 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Friday, Oct. 4, at the Underwood Community Center, 951 School House Road, Underwood, Washington 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Friday, Oct. 11, at the American Legion Post 122, at 10221 Washougal River Road, Washougal. For more information, call me at 509-637-3720, visit pud2024steele.com, join the public “Electricity is not a luxury” Facebook group at facebook.com/groups/576987189570902 or email pud2024steele@gmail.com. Maria Mel Steele, Skamania County

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