HomeMy WebLinkAboutC_Public_Comment_57Sammamish Chamber
of Commerce
December 10, 2019
Hearing Examiner
c/o City Clerk's Office
Renton City Hall
1055 S Grady Way
Renton, WA 98057
RE: Energize Eastside permit application, LUA18-000055
Dear Hearing Examiner:
On behalf of the Sammamish Chamber of Commerce board of directors, I am writing in support of
Puget Sound Energy's Energize Eastside project. We have been following the project over the last
several years and are grateful for the opportunity to provide comments for the record.
Our support of Energize Eastside is simple — our entire Eastside economy depends on reliable power.
We are one connected economy not defined by city boundaries. In order for all of us to thrive, we
must have the necessary infrastructure in place to support the growth all of our communities have
seen and the growth to come. We understand the last upgrade to this transmission line was over 50
years ago — and just like any growing region, we must build our infrastructure — be it roads, water,
sewer or electrical — to support this growth.
Additionally, the ongoing use of corrective action plans as a way to run our electrical system is not
acceptable. Energize Eastside studies show that if we delay much longer and/or if no action is taken
to upgrade this backbone of the Eastside's transmission system, PSE will be forced to use rolling
blackouts in order to meet their federal requirements and to protect the overall system. It goes without
saying that this is completely unacceptable to us and could have devastating long term impacts to the
economic health of this city and our region.
We recognize that siting infrastructure in a built urban environment is difficult. In Sammamish, we care
deeply about our parks, natural wetlands and our trees. We applaud the Community Advisory
Group's recommendation and PSE's decision to site Energize Eastside in the existing utility corridor.
This will result in less impacts to the environment — including trees - and specifically, we applaud
PSE's plan to more than replace the trees necessary for removal. This is good for all of us.
As the Sammamish Chamber, we stand with the vast majority of the overall Eastside community in
support of moving this project forward to construction as soon as possible. We all need reliable power
for our community and our interconnected Eastside economy. We cannot risk having rolling blackouts
or any kind of transmission capacity shortages in order for all of us to remain competitive as a place
for businesses to grow and thrive.
We urge you to recommend approval of the permit for the Energize Eastside project.
Sincerely, Q
Deborah Sogge, CEO, SCC