Home of Seattle dam seeks aid
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Seattle's public electrical agency has enjoyed healthy returns selling energy generated on the cheap, thanks in part to a deal struck half a century ago with officials in Northeastern Washington.
So does Seattle City Light have a duty today to cut Pend Oreille County in on profits that could go a long way toward helping that county through tough economic times?
Or should the utility focus on the bottom line for its own customers?
Pend Oreille County officials are pressuring City Light to boost the annual fee it pays to operate Boundary Dam on the Pend Oreille River. That dam generates 40 percent of the utility's electricity. Last year, City Light paid the county north of Spokane $1.3 million.
Officials there now say a more generous fee from City Light would help that area survive severe economic struggles. That's in Seattle's own interest, they say, because a stronger economy there would, in turn, strengthen the local work force.
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