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Renton Downtown Partnership
625 S 4th St
Renton, WA 98027
January 6, 2020
Hearing Examiner
c/o City Clerk’s Office
Renton City Hall
1055 S Grady Way
Renton, WA 98057
Dear Hearing Examiner:
The Renton Downtown Partnership supports Puget Sound Energy’s Energize Eastside proposal
to build a new electric substation and approximately 16 miles of high capacity electric transmission lines
in an existing utility corridor from Redmond to Renton via permit application # LUA18-000055.
This issue is of importance to the Renton Downtown Partnership because of its potential impact to the
growth of the larger Renton community and the downtown specifically. Energize Eastside studies show
that if no action is taken to upgrade the backbone of the Eastside's transmission system, PSE may have to
utilize additional Corrective Action Plans which would impact more than 130,000 customers, at a cost of
tens of millions of dollars to the local economy.
If this permit application is not supported, the alternative will greatly impact the local business
community and the public. This is concern for our downtown business owners and residents, as having
strong energy infrastructure at affordable rates is crucial for us to continue the momentum that we have
experienced in the downtown core over the last 5 years. We also agree with PSE’s comments regarding
its load growth projections, demonstrating that conservation alone is not a reasonable solution based on
projected demand or to prevent transmission capacity shortages.
The most reliable and cost-effective solution is a combination of continued, aggressive conservation
efforts and building new infrastructure — specifically, upgrading existing transmission lines in an
existing corridor and building a new substation.
We urge you to consider the impact to our downtown businesses in this matter and support Energize
Eastside.
Sincerely,
Jon Glenn
President
Renton Downtown Partnership