To the editor:

Island Power wants the city to agree to pay $100,000 to a consulting firm, D. Hittle and Associates. Hittle would then prepare what Island Power calls an “impartial” feasibility study regarding a city-owned electric utility.

Hittle has a lot of experience with these studies. The firm has established a niche practice for municipal clients. This experience impressed the city’s Electric Municipalization Task Force.

Still, Hittle has made mistakes. In Jefferson County, Hittle estimated that Jefferson PUD would pay $47 million for PSE’s transmission and distribution assets. The actual price, however, was $103 million (escalated to $109 million at closing). The Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission determined in Docket U-101217 that this price was “appropriate” and a “fair market value” for the assets.

Then there’s the matter of impartiality — and Hittle is hardly impartial. In its study for Jefferson PUD, for example, the firm claimed that utilities like PSE don’t work to benefit their customers.

Hittle also belongs to the Washington Public Utility Districts Association. The firm signed a “Statement of Support for Public Power” when it joined WPUDA.

Finally, it’s worth noting that, in its proposal to the city, Hittle named the Island Power co-chair (and former WPUDA Executive Director), Steve Johnson, as a professional reference. No wonder Island Power wants Hittle to do the work.

I hope that $100,000 will buy the city a fair analysis. I hope that Hittle, if hired, will indeed be impartial. But I’m not optimistic.

DAVID JOHNSON

Bainbridge Island