ENERGIZE EASTSIDE PROJECT: What is it All About?....

On December 4, 2013, Puget Sound Energy (PSE) announced its Energize Eastside Project which is being undertaken in order to “upgrade its system so that Eastside communities will continue to receive safe and dependable power in the future”. In their announcement, PSE noted that the Eastside is growing faster than any other region in Washington, and that consumer demand will exceed PSE’s ability to deliver reliable power as early as the winter of 2017-18. Without an upgrade, PSE predicts that its Eastside electric transmission system will lose redundancy, thus increasing the possibility of outages for as many as 60,000 homes and businesses.

The most visible feature of this project will be new transmission lines that will run 18 miles, between PSE’s existing Talbot Hill substation in Renton, and their Sammamish substation in Redmond. In their Project Overview, PSE advises that their engineers and planners hundreds of possible route corridors, and have narrowed the possibilities to 16 route segments (identified as routes A – N) which will be discussed at community meetings in January, 2014… including the KNA Neighborhood Meeting on January 28th.

With respect to the two possible routes that run north-south through Renton, the “M” route is located several blocks to the east of Edmonds Ave. NE, and thus would not be visible to Kennydale residents. Of greater interest to our community is the “L” route, which appears to run (according to the maps on PSE’s website) along or close to Lake Washington Blvd. North.

Other Eastside communities will likewise be impacted by the other possible routes (A-L). PSE notes that they will not know the exact route until a thorough process has been completed to hear from the public. Specifically, starting in January their approach will be to “ask the public to provide input on which combination of route segments will best serve the Eastside’s needs” and to “work with property owners, residents, businesses, hospitals and elected officials to reduce the impacts wherever possible”. A variety of public meetings are planned to facilitate this process.

As a Kennydale resident, what can you do?

• Go to the project website at www.pse.com/energizeeastside and study the maps and other information that is provided; also plan to attend their public meetings
  
• Attend the KNA neighborhood meeting on January 28th to see PSE’s presentation
  
• When you are ready with comments or questions, email PSE at energizeeastside@pse.com