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Doug Bechtel
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Sometimes things work out so well that I just want to jump up and down and cheer. If you know me, you will know that it is not something I am likely to do. Instead, I will share this with you:
Last January, the board and senior staff held a two day strategic planning retreat. At that session we identified two issues that were critical to the survival of OPALCO: to replace Bonneville's submarine cable that failed in 1995 and to protect OPALCO and our members' best interests during the upcoming electric industry restructuring debate.
We realized at that time that these were legislative issues as well as technical issues. We felt that even the replacement of the Bonneville cable might require some push from our elected representatives. Over the succeeding months, we did several things. We hired a part time consultant to advise us on the best means of accomplishing our goals, and we spent the spring and summer meeting with every elected official who represents us.
For the first time ever, the entire OPALCO board met in an open session with our county commissioners to explain our submarine cable problem and our concerns over electric industry restructuring.
Shortly after that, we met with Senator Harriet Spanel and Representatives Dave Quall and Jeff Morris, where we pressed the same two issues. We stressed how important it was that we retain our current degree of local control over OPALCO and our policies. One of the bills that had been introduced into the legislature would have placed OPALCO and every electric utility in the state under the jurisdiction of the Utilities and Transportation Commission. Under that type of regulation, projects like our Storm Abatement Program could not have occurred.
Late in the summer, we met with Representative Jack Metcalf and the staffs of Senators Slade Gorton and Patty Murray. In each case, we stressed the importance of local control and our concern over national legislation that would overlook the unique characteristics of OPALCO and San Juan County and force all utilities into a cookie cutter approach to providing power to their customers.
In each of the visits we made, we invited our legislators to come to San Juan County and view our situation firsthand. The first to take us up on our offer was Senator Patty Murray. The Board of Directors invited Senator Murray to have breakfast with them and the OPALCO staff, where several of our employees made short presentations on programs that we have, such as Project PAL, our efforts to develop a more effective method to restore the eel grass we damaged in Picnic Cove, our electric vehicle program, our storm abatement program, our conservation programs and so on. Before these presentations, I pointed out to Senator Murray how we are involved in the community and how our employees coach soccer teams, are involved in Little League baseball, the Red Cross, and serve on many local boards. I expressed our concern that we would not be able to compete economically with those who have no presence in San Juan County. The message that we left Senator Murray with was, "Don't let industry restructuring cause us to lose these programs or the things that make OPALCO special".
After the meeting with the board, Senator Murray met with about 80 people on Orcas Island, where she heard similar messages on our concern for the environment, senior citizen issues, and oil tanker safety among others. At the end of our time with Senator Murray, I felt confident that we had explained our message well and that she understood it. We have also invited Representative Metcalf and Senator Gorton to San Juan County to hear our message, and we expect to see them in the future.
Maybe I will jump up and down - just once.
Doug Bechtel
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