SOUTH SOUND GROUP

Sierra Club has intervened to stop Puget Sound Energy (PSE) get approval from its regulator, the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission (UTC), to increase customer energy rates by over $1.5 billion over the next three years. By 2029, this would increase a typical residential customer’s monthly electric bill by $51 (nearly 30%), and would increase their monthly gas bill by $23 (nearly 20%). 

We need help now to let the UTC know that you, your friends and neighbors oppose its approval of PSE plans to fund its fossil fuel projects.

Voice your thoughts – The UTC will hold a virtual hearing from 6-8pm on October 7. To participate in the virtual hearing, join by Zoom or call (253) 215-8782:

Enter Meeting ID: 822 1351 8474# and Passcode: 226995#

Many of the investments PSE is making will benefit its customers and are needed to strengthen the grid, meet growing demand, and provide low-cost clean energy that makes progress toward Washington’s decarbonization requirements under the Clean Energy Transformation Act and Climate Commitment Act.

However, PSE is also requesting hundreds of millions for fossil-powered generation, including $600 million to convert the Centralia coal-fired power plant to run on methane gas. PSE has asked for over $860 million to maintain and expand its system of pipelines that delivers methane gas to homes and buildings, including $3.4 million for a pilot project to pipe polluting, leak-prone, and explosive hydrogen gas into homes and businesses. These fossil fuel projects make it harder and more expensive to meet Washington’s decarbonization requirements, adding hundreds of millions in annual compliance costs on top of the costs of building and running the fossil fuel equipment. These are costs that would not exist if PSE instead pursued clean energy resources that inherently meet decarbonization requirements.

In many cases, PSE did not properly consider whether it could meet customers’ energy needs with cleaner, cheaper alternatives to the fossil fuel projects. The Centralia coal conversion project did not undergo the same vetting process as most of PSE’s electric generation resources, and PSE missed an opportunity to acquire a large available solar facility called the Sunstone Solar Project. PSE has also largely failed to consider cost-saving non-pipeline alternatives (NPAs) to its gas system investments, even though the UTC explicitly ordered it to do so in its last rate case. NPAs such as electrification and energy efficiency can reduce gas demand and avoid costly new pipeline investments that  lock in emissions and long-term costs for customers.

The NW Energy Coalition, Front and Centered, Climate Solutions, Washington Conservation Action, and Sierra Club, represented by Earthjustice, have intervened in PSE’s rate case to help advance an affordable clean energy transition and alleviate energy burdens in line with Washington’s objectives.

To learn more about what we are doing and how you can help, we have prepared the PSE 2026 Rate Case Public Comment Toolkit.  

Please use this toolkit to prepare and submit your comments by October 14 to have the greatest impact.

In addition, the toolkit describes where, when and how you can voice your thoughts at public hearings scheduled on September 29 and October 7.

Thank you for anything you can do to help advance an Affordable Clean Energy Future in the State of Washington.

Your Sierra Club South Sound Group,

Edward Humble
Sierra Club South Sound Group Chair

_______________________________________________

Grays Harbor Communities to Hear from Experts on the Hazardous Chemicals  Cleanup at Cosmo Specialty Fibers 

Local water protection organization, Twin Harbors Waterkeeper, organizes a community meeting as the state works with  the EPA to begin a massive cleanup of dangerous toxic chemicals at a shuttered Grays  Harbor plant. 

Twin Harbors Waterkeeper will convene a  panel discussion at 6pm on October 8th about the Cosmo Specialty Fibers hazardous  chemicals cleanup to update the nearby communities. The panel discussion will include  several expert speakers, including from the Washington Department of Ecology and the  EPA. The experts will share new information about how the Cosmo Specialty Fibers site is  situated within the state’s Model Toxics Control Act (MTCA) cleanup process, safety and  emergency preparedness related to the site, and other topics. 

The shuttered Cosmo Specialty Fibers plant looms large in the small city of Cosmopolis,  next door to Aberdeen. The plant ceased operations in 2022 and was then sold to  Charlestown Investment, based Switzerland, and plant owner Richard Bassett, based  outside of the U.S. With that transfer in ownership came potential liability for the cleanup of  contamination at the site. The plant was built prior to current environmental laws and  regulations and a number of toxic releases have been documented over previous decades,  including more than a dozen known leaks in a wooden wastewater pipe that runs  underground through the residential areas of Cosmopolis and South Aberdeen as it moves treated wastewater between the plant and its treatment ponds on the banks of the Grays  Harbor. A sediment study conducted in 2017 found elevated levels of dioxin and furans  near the site’s outfalls.  

The state has fined the current owner of the plant more than 2 million for neglecting compliance and leaking chemicals, which remains unpaid. The EPA and the Department of  Ecology are now in the process of removing thousands of gallons of chemicals and oils  from the site. The EPA has established a website that is updated weekly with information  about the removal action. Once that agency is finished with its removal, the Department of  Ecology will continue to pursue a thorough cleanup as mandated by the MTCA, which will include opportunities for engagement from the public. 
As the chemical removal and cleanup process are underway, nearby communities may be  energized to learn more about the longer term MTCA cleanup process. Adjacent  communities are getting some information about what is happening in the near-term from  the EPA, which held two informational meetings in August and September, and from any community leaders who speak about the process. But up to date information can be hard  to find and spotty at times, and it can be hard to understand how the state-led cleanup  process relates to the EPA’s e[orts, which is why Twin Harbors Waterkeeper is organizing a  panel discussion for the community to hear from the agencies and leaders and to ask  questions of them. “Community preparedness rests on information and understanding, and that’s why it’s  critical to make space for accurate information to reach community members and for them  to be able to ask questions of leaders,” said Maya Rommwatt, Waterkeeper at Twin Harbors  Waterkeeper. 

Around thirty-thousand residents live less than ten miles away from the Cosmo Specialty  Fibers plant, with most neighborhoods situated very close to the Chehalis River. The plant’s  failing infrastructure that has housed thousands of gallons of hazardous chemicals is a  direct threat to the river, the livelihoods that depend upon it, and the fish and birds and  other animals that also rely on it.  

“This plant is mere feet from the Chehalis River where Tribal members fish for sustenance  and community members live and recreate,” said Eleanor Hines, Executive Director of Twin  Harbors Waterkeeper. “It’s astounding that it has been left to deteriorate by its owners, with  the water and power shut o[ and no security before the EPA stepped in. Anything could  happen to those chemicals and it would not take much to poison the river beyond repair.” 

Community members are encouraged to join the meeting at 6pm on October 8th to learn  more about Cosmo Specialty Fibers site, community safety, and how the Model Toxics  Control Act cleanup process works. The meeting will be held at the Timberland Hoquiam  library in the downstairs meeting room.  
 

_________

Twin Harbors Waterkeeper envisions a future where the relationship between our  waterways, our climate, our economy and human health is restored and thriving. 

The mission of THW is to protect and improve water quality and marine and freshwater  habitats on the Washington Coast including the watersheds of the Hoh, Quillayute, Queets  and Quinault and Chehalis Rivers and the Chehalis River Estuary and Willapa Bay  Watershed.

THW works to address environmental health disparities that are driven by legacy and  current pollution and systemic inequities that disadvantage communities of color and  lower income populations on the Washington Coast. When we prioritize clean water, we  are also prioritizing the health and well-being of our community, especially our youth and  elders. 

Funded in part by a Public Participation Grant from the Washington State Department of  Ecology 

Contact: Maya Rommwatt, mayar@twinharborswaterkeeper.org, 503-467-9471