Dear council members,

I am a resident of one of the Eastside cities (Redmond, Kirkland, Bellevue, Newcastle, Renton) that will be impacted by Puget Sound Energy’s proposal to upgrade a high-voltage transmission line.

I am troubled to learn that PSE’s project:
• Installs huge poles through or adjacent to 29 neighborhoods
• Removes thousands of trees
• Increases the risk of catastrophic pipeline fires, endangering hundreds of homes and thousands of schoolchildren
• Commits the Eastside to an energy strategy that does little to reduce carbon emissions
• Claims to improve reliability, but increases vulnerability to windstorm outages

The Coalition of Eastside Neighborhoods for Sensible Energy (CENSE), a citizen group that I support, has submitted a better proposal developed by industry experts. It’s a scalable plan that uses 21st century technology and policies that have been proven effective in dozens of cities across the country (learn more at cense.org).

I ask council members to support a better way to address Eastside growth than PSE’s “Energize Eastside” transmission line project. Let’s carefully consider the CENSE Plan which follows the recommendations of the Seventh Northwest Power Plan to maintain a reliable regional power system for the next 20 years.

The Eastside and future generations deserve a smarter vision for our energy future.