Our story on utilities' plans to green our grid sparked a lot of feedback - The Seattle Times

Our story on utilities’ plans to green our grid sparked a lot of feedback | The Seattle Times

EVERY STORY COMES with its own anxieties, and Pacific NW magazine’s March 26 story — about the electric grid, and some regional efforts to decarbonize it— had me fretting more than usual. It’s a technically complex subject. I am not an electrical engineer. And, paradoxically, the issues at play manage to be simultaneously thrilling, and incredibly dull.

It was, in the bluntest terms, a story about some attempts to help save the world … through initiatives with impenetrably bureaucratic names, like “the Western Resource Adequacy Program.” The infrastructure nerds out there might care. Would anybody else?

Turns out you did — or a bunch of you did, anyway, writing in from Washington state to Washington, D.C., and many points in between. Not everybody agreed with the arguments laid out by the utilities officials and grid scholars quoted in the story, and that’s great. These questions should be debated. But it was heartening to hear from so many people who want to know more about decarbonizing the U.S. electric grid: the second-largest greenhouse-gas emitter in the country. My fretting, like most fretting, was in vain.

Scientists, not politicians, please

A point that comes clear to me is that adequate and affordable power distribution for our region is way too important and complex to leave up to elected officials who are primarily powered by short-term vote pandering and hot air.

Here on Vashon Island, we get our juice from Puget Sound Energy. A look at the sourcing pie chart (Page 11 of the March 26 story) shows that 50% of PSE power is currently generated from coal and natural gas. I doubt I’m the only one here on “Weed Island” who had no clue that 25% of our power (the coal part) is going to be illegal at the end of 2025 … and the natural gas part (another 25%) could be pinched off by 2030.

To buffer the shock of all that, my wife and I took a Sunday drive past a handful of angry signs screaming, “No Snake River Dams!”

So … if dynamite is the preferred solution to our hydropower and salmon problems, what’s going to be left to heat and light the yurt, dude? (I’m burning wood tonight, but please don’t call the cops.)

Let’s just leave our electrons to the scientific engineers, the watt-counters and the eggheads … and lock the social engineers and politicians in a cold, dark room.

— John van Amerongen, Vashon Island

The challenge of communication

I just finished reading your article “Seattle utilities consider massive efforts that could help green our grid,” and I wanted to send a quick thank-you note.

I have a similar job as Emeka at the utility to the north, Snohomish PUD.

It is always a challenge to communicate the complexity of these major regionwide efforts to a broad audience, and I thought your article did as good a job as I have seen done. I plan to share it with our staff who are less involved in these efforts, and I just wanted to send a quick note to express my appreciation.

— Garrison Marr, Everett

A case for solar

Solar cells on homes and batteries in the basements are much better approaches to future electricity demand. U.S. and state government are encouraging home solar.

The future household is going to have electric vehicles and an all-electric home. So, the electricity demand is going to increase. Building more transmission lines and substations for more electricity is not the best solution. Putting the solar on roofs where the demand is, is much better. (Maybe not for [Seattle City Light].) Solar gives a much better price for electricity to the consumer.

Charging home batteries to supply home electrical needs from solar would also lower demand for SCL energy. And, less demand for large energy storage from SCL. Also, fewer home power outages due to downed distribution lines.

Also, Tesla is not the only battery company.

Seems like SCL doesn’t want to lose any revenue. But they will.

— Ralph Pierson, Seattle