The Southwest Suburban Sewer District Board of Commissioners is now accepting applications from individuals interested in an appointment to fill a vacant position on the commission.

The candidate selected will fill the unexpired term of Commissioner Tony Genazle, who died Dec. 4.

Applicants are asked to submit a cover letter, a commissioner questionnaire and a résumé. The deadline for submitting applications is Friday, Jan. 28, at 4 p.m.

Candidates must be registered voters living within the district boundaries. The District is generally located in Burien, Normandy Park and White Center.

Both the commissioner questionnaire and a map of the district’s corporate boundaries can be found at the district’s website: www.swssd.com.

Commission board meetings are held the first and third Tuesdays of each month at 6 p.m. at the District office, located at 431 SW Ambaum Blvd. in Burien.

The appointee will serve until the next general election in November 2011. If elected then, the new commissioner will complete Genzale’s unexpired six-year term and be required to run for a full term in the 2015 general election.

Interested candidates must submit their application packets to:

Ron Hall, General Manager
Southwest Suburban Sewer District
431 SW Ambaum Blvd
Burien, WA 98166

For more information, contact district staff at 206-244-9575.

by Ralph Nichols

Seattle City Light is charging Burien and other suburban ratepayers – residential and commercial – more than it costs the utility to provide their electricity.

And, says Burien City Councilman Jack Block Jr., this inequity must change.

When council members review at tonight’s meeting (Monday, Oct. 4) their priorities for the 2011 Legislature, Block wants them to include a request to make City Light accountable to the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission (WUTC).

“Burien ratepayers [served by City Light] are paying to subsidize Seattle’s budget,” Block told The B-Town Blog on Oct. 2 – echoing comments he made at the Sept. 27 council meeting when he first raised this issue.

“The money that Seattle City Light is charging us in excess of its costs is costing Burien residents hundreds of dollars a year. That takes food out of the mouths of families and impedes economic progress by impacting local businesses.

“Families are faced with a hard choice of keeping their lights on or feeding their families. Seattle should not be allowed to improve its third-world infrastructure on the backs of City Light ratepayers – especially those ratepayers who live outside Seattle.

“That’s why we need this policy” of WUTC oversight of City Light, he added.

Following a court ruling that Seattle may not assess a utility tax on ratepayers outside the city limits, Block said Seattle imposed a 6 percent surcharge on non-resident utility customers.

“Utility customers outside the city’s corporate boundary are paying to subsidize Seattle’s budget,” he charged. “No one has called them on this. Mayor McGinn’s new rates [proposed for 2011] will go directly to balance Seattle’s budget.”

Burien City Councilmember Jack Block Jr. at his swearing-in ceremony. Photo by Scott Schaefer.

McGinn proposed utility rate increases last week to help reduce Seattle’s budget deficit. If approved, they would increase the monthly cost of power from City Light by $2.13 and the cost of water by $1.10.

City Light – the ninth largest electrical utility in America – is also making about 70 percent less than anticipated from sales of excess energy.

“Seattle City Light is a public utility,” Block noted. “It has no oversight by the WUTC like private utilities have. And unlike a public utility district or local sewer or water districts, it doesn’t have commissioners elected by the ratepayers.

“Rates are set by the city council. But customers outside Seattle have no say in how rates are set or what rate hikes should be. So when Seattle City Light raised rates by 18.3 percent earlier this year, Burien residents had no say.”

Now, he said, a 0.5 percent across-the-board City Light rate increase is coming this month, and if McGinn’s proposed hikes are approved the cost of power will go up another 4.3 percent next year and 4.2 percent in 2012.

“That’s why I want the Legislature to bring Seattle City Light under the jurisdiction of the WUTC, just like Puget Sound Energy is, so that Burien residents will have a say in how rates are set including rate hikes.”

Block wants enabling legislation that will bring under the jurisdiction of the WUTC public utilities like City Light, with customers located outside their corporate boundaries, so they may bill non-resident ratepayers only for the actual costs of providing service.

Although he is “in discussions” with Burien City Manager Mike Martin “about how to move forward with this if the council decides to go with this policy,” Block has not talked with legislators.

“First of all, I want to get my ducks in a row in our city. I will say that other elected officials beyond Burien consider this a serious inequity that affects not only Burien but other residents throughout the region that are served by City Light.”

by Ralph Nichols

A proposed 8.8 percent rate increase by Seattle City Light, which would begin in January, “will affect most of our residents,” Burien City Manager Mike Martin said last week.

City Light provides electrical service to almost all of Burien and all of the North Highline area. The Seattle City Council will vote on whether to accept or amend the rate increase request later this month.

Included in City Light’s rate analysis supporting the proposed increase are additional increases of 5.4 percent in 2011 and 6.6 percent in 2012.

Because City Light is a publicly owned utility, it is not regulated by the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission. Oversight comes instead from the Seattle City Council.

Martin said Burien has asked City Light for clarification about the need for a rate hike at this time, “since it will affect so many of our residents,” but has not yet received a reply.

Outgoing Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels called for the increase when he submitted in September his proposed 2010 budget.

In a report to the Burien City Council, Martin noted that reasons given for a higher power rate when Nickels announced his budget proposal were the poor economy, a sharp decline in sales of surplus power and a larger-than-proposed rate decrease in 2007.

Surplus power sales have been driven down by low natural-gas prices, according to Seattle budget director Dwight Dively. While Seattle’s 2009 budget anticipated surplus power sales of $140 million, only about half that amount has been sold – leaving City Light with a $70 million shortfall.

Martin added that City Light also says the increase is needed to maintain its net operating income reserve, although “there is no legal reserve requirement” for that reserve as structured by the utility.

Citing City Light’s reference to cash flow, Martin replied, “The economy is also hurting our residents’ cash flow.”

In a statement to The B-Town Blog, he said, “At this time, it’s still not entirely clear what’s going on.” Burien staff will seek more information from City Light within the next couple of weeks.