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Home My WebLink AboutCONSENT Letters of Support re Mason PUD CDS JEFFERSON COUNTY BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS AGENDA REQUEST TO: Board of County Commissioners FROM: Greg Brotherton, District 3 Commissioner DATE: March 2, 2026 SUBJECT: Letters of Support for Mason PUD #1 STATEMENT OF ISSUE: Mason PUD#1 provides power to the Brinnon area in South Jefferson County. They are asking for the BoCC to submit letters of support to our federal delegation for their application for Congressionally Directed Spending (CDS) to rebuild the 3-Phase mainline in Brinnon (as well as replacing underground line in Liliwaup. ANALYSIS: Our federal lobbyist indicated that this support would not undermine our own request. RECOMMENDATION Sign and submit the letters of support as requested. REVIEWED BY: 75-1745 \ ?O/d-6 J sr Peters, County Administrator Date CoNssr Board of County Commissioners p4��s coy o I 1820 Jefferson Street m ti PO Box 1220 Port Townsend, WA 98368 o� Heather Dudley-Nollette,District 1 Heidi Eisenhour,District 2 Greg Brotherton,District 3 6WING't March 2,2026 The Honorable Patty Murray 154 Russell Senate Office Building Washington,D.C.20510 Re: Support for Mason County PUD No. 1's Appropriations Request for FY27 Dear Senator Murray, The Board of Commissioners for Jefferson County,Washington would like to express our support for Jefferson County PUD No. l's appropriations request to fund Hood Canal Grid Resilience Project. PUD 1 has procured other grant funding through FEMA and U.S. Department of Energy and Washington State Department of Commerce to rebuild several areas of aging power infrastructure along U.S. Highway 101 along with other major grid resilience initiatives, like a middle-mile substation. There are still two major project areas that the PUD needs funding assistance to complete,with a$5.6 million project cost,which is cost prohibitive for only 5,600 electric meters. This CDS funding would making this project a near-term reality without impacting public ratepayers. This Hood Canal Grid Resilience Project is important for Mason County residents on the Hood Canal because this area experiences frequent and long-lasting power outages due to the terrain of U.S. Highway 101 and the Olympic National Forest. These areas are vulnerable to natural hazards like landslides,wind and snow events,and most commonly,fallen trees from the rainforest canopy. Mason PUD 1 has a 5.2-mile stretch of overhead 3-Phase power lines on U.S.Hwy 101 that run under the Olympic Rainforest canopy and along the shoreline of the Hood Canal in the town of Brinnon. This section of line feeds power to 20%of the PUD's electric customers. The tree canopy,natural hazards,and lack of resilient infrastructure cause a high number of power outages each year. 84 of the 106 poles in this 5.2 mile have installation dates ranging from the 1940s through the 1980s. The poles are undersized for modern electrical standards and prohibit the deployment of rural broadband. Additionally,the Beacon Point community in Lilliwaup is served by 4.7 miles of old underground power cable, installed in 1971. This community experiences long outage times due to the time and strenuous excavation required to locate and repair this old cable. This CDS funding would replace all of the underground cable with new modern cable as well as facilitate a public-private partnership with a local telecommunications provider to deploy fiber to home throughout this development. Beacon Point is a broadband desert with poor cell reception and no reliable satellite access. This fiber deployment not only benefits the customers in that development but would position the PUD to deploy AMI metering and SCADA by providing the fiber network backbone to support these future grid resilience projects. We hope you will agree and select Mason PUD l's Jorstad Substation Grid Resiliency Project to move forward for appropriations. We applaud the PUD for proactively and successfully upgrading their power grid to protect Jefferson County residents and businesses. Sincerely, Heather Dudley-Nollette, Dist. 1 Heidi Eisenhour,Dist.2 Greg Brotherton,Dist.3 -Chair Phone(360) 385-9100 jeffbocc@co.jefferson.wa.us CoN� s`Sl Board of County Commissioners 4w¢S c ei• 1820 Jefferson Street 0 w PO Box 1220 Port Townsend, WA 98368 `9S .�� Heather Dudley-Nollette,District 1 Heidi Eisenhour,District 2 Greg Brotherton,District 3 III NG February 17,2026 The Honorable Maria Cantwell 511 Hart Senate Office Building Washington, D.C. 20510 Re: Support for Mason County PUD No. l's CDS Request for FY27 Dear Senator Cantwell, The Board of Commissioners for Jefferson County, Washington would like to express our support for Jefferson County PUD No. l's appropriations request to fund Hood Canal Grid Resilience Project. PUD 1 has procured other grant funding through FEMA and U.S. Department of Energy and Washington State Department of Commerce to rebuild several areas of aging power infrastructure along U.S. Highway 101 along with other major grid resilience initiatives, like a middle-mile substation. There are still two major project areas that the PUD needs funding assistance to complete,with a$5.6 million project cost,which is cost prohibitive for only 5,600 electric meters. This CDS funding would making this project a near-term reality without impacting public ratepayers. This Hood Canal Grid Resilience Project is important for Mason County residents on the Hood Canal because this area experiences frequent and long-lasting power outages due to the terrain of U.S. Highway 101 and the Olympic National Forest. These areas are vulnerable to natural hazards like landslides,wind and snow events,and most commonly,fallen trees from the rainforest canopy. Mason PUD 1 has a 5.2-mile stretch of overhead 3-Phase power lines on U.S. Hwy 101 that run under the Olympic Rainforest canopy and along the shoreline of the Hood Canal in the town of Brinnon. This section of line feeds power to 20%of the PUD's electric customers. The tree canopy,natural hazards,and lack of resilient infrastructure cause a high number of power outages each year. 84 of the 106 poles in this 5.2 mile have installation dates ranging from the 1940s through the 1980s. The poles are undersized for modern electrical standards and prohibit the deployment of rural broadband. Additionally,the Beacon Point community in Lilliwaup is served by 4.7 miles of old underground power cable, installed in 1971. This community experiences long outage times due to the time and strenuous excavation required to locate and repair this old cable. This CDS funding would replace all of the underground cable with new modern cable as well as facilitate a public-private partnership with a local telecommunications provider to deploy fiber to home throughout this development. Beacon Point is a broadband desert with poor cell reception and no reliable satellite access. This fiber deployment not only benefits the customers in that development but would position the PUD to deploy AMI metering and SCADA by providing the fiber network backbone to support these future grid resilience projects. We hope you will agree and select Mason PUD 1's Jorstad Substation Grid Resiliency Project to move forward for appropriations. We applaud the PUD for proactively and successfully upgrading their power grid to protect Jefferson County residents and businesses. Sincerely, Heather Dudley-Nollette,Dist. 1 Heidi Eisenhour, Dist. 2 Greg Brotherton,Dist.3 -Chair Phone(360) 385-9100 jeffbocc@co.jefferson.wa.us o coNssr Board of County Commissioners 494w4s c°rcl, 1820 Jefferson Street 0 zz,, PO Box 1220 Port Townsend, WA 98368 -IsNI NG.�� Heather Dudley-Nollette,District 1 Heidi Eisenhour,District 2 Greg Brotherton,District 3 February 17,2026 The Honorable Emily Randall 1531 Longworth House Office Building Washington, D.C.,20515 Re: Support for Mason County PUD No. 1's CPF Request for FY26 Dear Congresswoman Randall, The Board of Commissioners for Jefferson County,Washington would like to express our support for Jefferson County PUD No. l's appropriations request to fund Hood Canal Grid Resilience Project.PUD 1 has procured other grant funding through FEMA and U.S. Department of Energy and Washington State Department of Commerce to rebuild several areas of aging power infrastructure along U.S. Highway 101 along with other major grid resilience initiatives, like a middle-mile substation. There are still two major project areas that the PUD needs funding assistance to complete,with a$5.6 million project cost,which is cost prohibitive for only 5,600 electric meters. This CDS funding would making this project a near-term reality without impacting public ratepayers. This Hood Canal Grid Resilience Project is important for Mason County residents on the Hood Canal because this area experiences frequent and long-lasting power outages due to the terrain of U.S. Highway 101 and the Olympic National Forest. These areas are vulnerable to natural hazards like landslides,wind and snow events,and most commonly, fallen trees from the rainforest canopy. Mason PUD 1 has a 5.2-mile stretch of overhead 3-Phase power lines on U.S.Hwy 101 that run under the Olympic Rainforest canopy and along the shoreline of the Hood Canal in the town of Brinnon.This section of line feeds power to 20%of the PUD's electric customers. The tree canopy,natural hazards,and lack of resilient infrastructure cause a high number of power outages each year. 84 of the 106 poles in this 5.2 mile have installation dates ranging from the 1940s through the 1980s. The poles are undersized for modern electrical standards and prohibit the deployment of rural broadband. Additionally,the Beacon Point community in Lilliwaup is served by 4.7 miles of old underground power cable, installed in 1971. This community experiences long outage times due to the time and strenuous excavation required to locate and repair this old cable. This CDS funding would replace all of the underground cable with new modern cable as well as facilitate a public-private partnership with a local telecommunications provider to deploy fiber to home throughout this development. Beacon Point is a broadband desert with poor cell reception and no reliable satellite access. This fiber deployment not only benefits the customers in that development but would position the PUD to deploy AMI metering and SCADA by providing the fiber network backbone to support these future grid resilience projects. We hope you will agree and select Mason PUD 1's Jorstad Substation Grid Resiliency Project to move forward for appropriations. We applaud the PUD for proactively and successfully upgrading their power grid to protect Jefferson County residents and businesses. Sincerely, Heather Dudley-Nollette, Dist. 1 Heidi Eisenhour, Dist. 2 Greg Brotherton,Dist. 3 -Chair Phone(360) 385-9100 jeffbocc@cojefferson.wa.us