Works In Progress December 2012<\/em> <\/p>\n\n\n\nAs you look back on your life so far, there are many crossroads at which you took one path over another. Sometimes you knew then it was a crossroads and other times you could only see it as you look back and reflect on your path. In each case, whether you knew it at the time or not, your future changed. Over the past year, the path of Thurston County residents, businesses, and government moved together through a number of such crossroads\u2026one of them was labeled Public Power. As we look back, some of us see that we took the \u201cNo\u201d path. Those who didn\u2019t vote or didn\u2019t know about Proposition 1, look back without seeing the crossroads. The rest of us see that we actually took the \u201cNot Yet\u201d path. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Proposition 1, the\nPublic Power Initiative, was on the November 6 ballot. Had it passed,\nProposition 1 would have given Thurston Public Utility District\n(TPUD) the authority to provide electricity to Thurston County\nresidents. Twenty-two Washington State counties already get their\nelectricity from their PUD. Over 55% of state residents already enjoy\nthe local control, more local jobs, lower rates, and better\nreliability of Public Power. In a preliminary study done by TPUD and\nreleased on August 31 (see ThurstonPUD. com to download a PDF of the\nstudy), each of the three scenarios presented would save the\nelectrified PUD\u2019s customers between $10 million and $215.7 million\nover 10 years. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So why did\nProposition 1 get \u201conly\u201d 40% of the vote? If Public Power will\nbring us more local jobs, save us money, and provide more reliable\nservice with fewer and shorter outages, why did 60% vote against it?\nOnly two of many very good questions, almost all having the answer: \nexperience, political clout, deep financial pockets, the strong\nbacking of the county\u2019s only daily newspaper beat passion,\ncommunity, political naivet\u00e9, and dearth of fundraising experience. \nProposition 1 was championed by an allvolunteer, grassroots\norganization interested in making a change for the better. We (the\nChair and Secretary, respectively, of Thurston Public Power\nInitiative) had virtually no experience in signature-gathering,\ncampaigning, or down-and-dirty political campaigning. We had a\nvision; we had people; and we had passion. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Most of you already\nknow that Puget Sound Energy (PSE) provides electricity to almost all\nof Thurston County and that their service area is a monopoly\u2014 it\u2019s\neither PSE or make your own electricity. Many of you also know PSE\ncharges more for the electricity they supply than any other\nWashington utility, public or not, and that they are allowed by the\nWashington Utilities and Transportation Commission to pay a 9.8%\nshareholder return. They also currently pay their offshore owners a\n7.6% profit\u2014and have done so even as hundreds of Thurston County\nbusinesses closed their doors and thousands of our fellow residents\nlost their jobs in the 2008 economic crash and since. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In a nutshell,\nProposition 1 was defeated by the enormous, virtually unlimited\nresources of Puget Sound Energy. They used the profits paid to them\nby Thurston County residents to contribute over $632 thousand in\nreported support and many hundreds of thousands of dollars in\nunreported support to defeat Proposition 1. You saw the $632 thousand\nin the 10 glossy full-color mailers they sent out and the 100s of\ngreen and blue campaign signs along right-of-ways via their fake\ngrassroots creation \u201cAlliance to Protect Thurston Power.\u201d The\nunreported support took the form of Thurston Countyonly billboards;\nnon-political ads in The Olympian saying, for example that PSE\n\u201cserves Thurston County\u201d; hundreds of hours of door-knocking by\nPSE\u2019s King County employees; thousands of phone calls from their\nLynnwood Call Center warning Thurston County residents against\nProposition 1, and more. Their political contributions, past and\nfuture, won them the public silence of all but one sitting\npolitician. Many of these same silent politicians told me personally\nthat he or she supported and would vote for Proposition 1, but that\nthey could not do so publicly because of PSE\u2019s clout. So much for\nrepresenting your constituents… \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
PSE had a lot at\nstake. For Thurston County to transition to Public Power would mean\nthe falling of the first domino. If Thurston County and the capitol,\nOlympia, were to transition to be able to enjoy these benefits, the\nrest of the state would take notice and realize that they could do\nthe same\u2026the first domino leads to many more. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Although the\nauthority to transition to Public Power received \u201conly\u201d 40% of\nthe vote, we passed through what will later be seen as a major\ncrossroads for Thurston County. Our 100s of volunteers collected over\n15,000 signatures to qualify Proposition 1 for the ballot. We went\ndoor-todoor in many areas, talking with people and handing out\nliterature. We stood for hours on street corners waving signs. We\ndonated artistic talents, printing services, expertise in many areas,\nmeeting rooms and office space, and tens of thousands of\npeople-hours. We did this for the vision of a Thurston County that\nwill one day own its electrical infrastructure and will no longer\nhave to suffer under the Bellevue-based corporate monopoly whose $3.4\nmillion a year President and CEO bows deeply to her offshore masters\nas she sends them over $17 million in annual profits taken from the\npockets of Thurston County ratepayers. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What we failed to do\nwas to reach out early to a wide group of Thurston County influencers\nto explain what Public Power would mean to the county. Many of them\nwere swayed by the misdirection and outright lies of PSE and the\nAlliance before hearing the truth. One example of this was the \u201cNo\nSecond Chance\u201d meme in which PSE told people that once TPUD\nCommissioners were granted the authority to electrify, they could do\nwhatever they chose with no further input from the people of the\ncounty. We of the Initiative mistakenly thought at first that people\nwould see through this blatant falsehood and it cost us dearly. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Once the PUD has the\nauthority to electrify, they will do a feasibility study on which\nareas of the county would be best served initially. They then will go\nto the governing body of that area (e.g. the Olympia City Council or\nthe Thurston County Commission) with the study results and attempt to\nwork out an agreement for the PUD to provide electricity for the\nselected area. The governing body, with input from its residents,\nwould vote to either accept an agreement with the PUD or to stay with\nPSE. Both the local governing body and the PUD have public meetings\nwith time set aside for comments from the people and, if they want to\nbe reelected, will follow the people\u2019s will. PSE may ask for your\nopinion, but if it is contrary to what\u2019s best for its profits, you\ncan be sure they\u2019ll choose profits over people every time! \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Those of us who\nchampion Public Power have the truth on our side and the best\ninterests of Thurston County in our hearts and minds. PSE has a\nvirtually unlimited bank account with which they will again hire\nlobbyists, advertising agencies, and political professionals to\nspread fear and uncertainty in the hope that their massive profits\nwill flow into the pockets of the Australian investment bank that\nbought them in 2008 against the will of the people who depend on them\nfor electricity. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Did you know that of\nthe over $632,000 spent against the Public Power initiative, 95% came\nfrom privately-owned Puget Sound Energy and the other 5% come from\ninvestor-owned utilities and multinational corporations? Not one\npenny of the anti-campaign came from a living, breathing human being.\n That alone, should make Thurston County sit up and take notice\u2014a\ngroup of corporations were the only ones who were willing to put up\nany money to deny the people of Thurston County the right to have a\nchoice in who provides their electricity and from where it comes. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The logical next\nquestion is\u2026what\u2019s next? Thurston Public Power Initiative is\ncommitted to continuing through at least the next election cycle.\nAfter examining what went well and what we need to change, we will\nredefine, reorganize, and again bring the option of Public Power\nbefore the people of Thurston County. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
About 9% of the\npeople who voted in Thurston County didn\u2019t vote at all on\nProposition 1, most likely because they had either never heard of it\nor they felt they needed more information to make a decision. We need\nto ensure that the next time they have the opportunity to vote on\nPublic Power, they have the knowledge they need. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Our volunteers and\nthose of other campaigns with which we coordinated, knocked on\nthousands of doors and passed out literature in dozens of precincts.\nThe precincts in which we made personal contact and answered people\u2019s\nquestions voted for us in significantly higher numbers than those we\ndid not reach. Had we the funds and the foresight, we would have\nreached out to more people with the truth about Public Power\u2014and\npossibly made a difference. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The next steps for\nthe Public Power movement are currently in discussion by the dozens\nof activists who were involved with the initiative campaign. The\nThurston Public Power Initiative is set up as a political action\ncommittee, and there may be a better structure for the ongoing public\neducation and outreach that will be vital for winning the Public\nPower campaign in the long run. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On the one hand, we\nhave a large public education project before us, involving direct\noutreach to over 100,000 Thurston County citizens. This calls for a\nbroad-based grassroots effort, requiring both dedicated volunteers\nand effective coalition-building throughout the progressive activist\ncommunity. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At the same time, we\nmust pay attention to the world of politics and elections. We fully\nexpect that PSE will try to strip PUD\u2019s of their right to electrify\nstatewide. Our initial actions may well have much broader\nramifications for which we must be prepared. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
While we will\ncertainly be looking at the best strategy and timing for bringing\nanother Public Power initiative before the voters, we must also make\nsure that our PUD Commissioners remains supportive of Public Power.\nEvery two years, another commissioner is elected. Our new PUD\ncommissioner opposed Proposition 1 and received substantial campaign\nsupport from PSE. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We expect PSE to\ncontinue in their attempts to buy our democracy, one elected official\nat a time. We must defend against their ongoing onslaught, and make\nsure progressive Commissioners and other politicians are elected. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We are cheered by\nthe fact that, even though our campaign was less strong than it\ncould\u2019ve been, 40% of Thurston County voted to give the PUD the\noption of providing electricity. The credit for that goes first to\nour dedicated and hard-working volunteers\u2014from the person who\ncollected one petition signature or talked to one friend or neighbor,\nto the three who collected over 500 signatures each, to the members\nof the Executive Board who did their best to lead at times and get\nout of the way at others. It also goes to the unsung heroes of the\nInitiative\u2014those who donated money, in-kind services, office space,\nand their time and expertise. Thank you to all. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As the title says,\nthis is only the beginning. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
John Pearce is an Olympia-based small business owner who consults with companies across North America. He is also a founding member and current Chair of Thurston Public Power Initiative. Doug Riddels is a computer tech for the Olympia School District, past Chairman of the Olympia Eagles, 45-year resident of Thurston County, and Secretary of the Thurston Public Power Initiative.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Corporate cash buys election\u2014 Public Power supporters undeterred (This was originally published in December of 2012 in Works In Progress. Let’s remember, learn and give thanks.) By John Pearce with Doug Riddels Works In Progress […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":161,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[23,22,24],"tags":[12,13,15,11,14,10,4,5,8,16,9,18,17],"class_list":{"0":"post-160","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-community","8":"category-solidarity","9":"category-volunteer","10":"tag-coal","11":"tag-ekc-pud","12":"tag-energy","13":"tag-faq","14":"tag-green","15":"tag-initiative","16":"tag-lng","17":"tag-pse","18":"tag-pud","19":"tag-renewable","20":"tag-thurston-county","21":"tag-utc","22":"tag-wa"},"yoast_head":"\nIt\u2019s only the beginning... - Power to the PUBLIC!<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/powertothepublic.org\/index.php\/2020\/01\/22\/its-only-the-beginning\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"It\u2019s only the beginning... - Power to the PUBLIC!\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Corporate cash buys election\u2014 Public Power supporters undeterred (This was originally published in December of 2012 in Works In Progress. 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