Resident of the Skokomish Valley are chafing at the frequent power outages they endure at the hands of PUD#1. Yet another one lasting several hours occurred 1-3-13 (Thursday) @ ~7:40 p.m. This one was due to a disruption originating with the BPA (Bonneville Power Administration) which provides electricity to PUD#1 as a retailer of the same.
The outage affected PUD#1 & PUD#3 residents alike including those of Lake Cushman. The time has come to discard the band-aid maintenance of 20th century infrastructure in favor of more reliable 21st equipment (and buried distribution lines) for the more critical needs commensurate with our modern technology based existence. Today, repeated power failures mean dead phone lines, no e-mail or internet access, lack of water (well pumps), frozen water lines in the dead of winter, loss of business, no communication with emergency services, no heat, no light, and an increasingly lasting level of frustration.
Isn’t it time to elect PUD#1 commissioners who will recognize how great the need and failure has become…willing to bite the bullet and spend the money to serve customers who, in theory, own PUD#1? We are no longer a back woods community, but one who needs to fully participate in the 21st century to survive.
