Survey to ask if PUD should sell electricity
Franny White can be reached at 360-416-2148 or fwhite@skagitvalleyherald. com
By FRANNY WHITE Staff Writer Three hundred Skagit County voters will be asked their opinion on whether their public utilities district should become an electrical utility. The telephone survey will be conducted by EMC Research Inc. of Seattle for $12,500, the Skagit County Public Utility District commissioners decided Tuesday. The 10-minute surveys will be taken between this Saturday and March 22. The survey’s margin of error will be plus or minus 5.7 percentage points, and the PUD will receive a report of the results by April 7. The questions asked will not be released to the public until after the survey is conducted, PUD General Manager Dave Johnson said. The survey will assist PUD leaders in the district’s discussions regarding the possibility of providing power in addition to the drinking water it already offers. Last week, the commissioners hired a consultant to do an economic feasibility study on the same issue. That study’s results will be released in May. The commissioners say they are exploring the matter at the request of residents and local businesses who are concerned about the pending sale of the county’s current power provider, the private company Puget Sound Energy, to an international investment firm. The PUD commissioners have until Aug. 12 to file a resolution with the county Auditor’s Office that would include the issue on the Nov. 4 ballot.