To the editor:

Creating a public electric utility on Bainbridge Island is the most powerful step we can take to ensure that our current and future power comes from the most sustainable sources.

In the short run, obtaining all our electricity from Bonneville Power Administration removes us as customers of the Colstrip power plant and mine in Montana; one of the most polluting coal plants in the West.

PSE obtains about 30 percent of our electricity from Colstrip, which produces air pollution equivalent to half of the passenger cars in Washington and has over 800 acres of toxic coal ash ponds leaking into the groundwater. That alone, makes this very attractive!

In the long run, we can choose to add power to our local mix from other local distributed sources that can recycle waste heat and energy.

Linesman, account reps, engineers and others would work on Bainbridge Island and add to our economy. A local public electric utility would give homeowners, businesses and city planners a seat at the table in planning power purchases and infrastructure projects for the smart-grid of the future.

Public power has been proven over and over again since the rural electrification movements of the New Deal, especially in Washington state.

Bonneville has a mandate to support new public electric utilities and Jefferson County has just shown that big change is possible when concerned citizens unite for a good cause.

TED JONES of Bainbridge Island