A recent letter to the editor suggested that Puget Sound Energy’s (PSE) Energize Eastside project was conceived to help balance treaty requirements between the United States and Canada. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Energize Eastside – a project to build a new electric substation and higher capacity transmission lines – has always been about improving the local electric delivery system for PSE’s Eastside-area customers in the face of more than 50 years of unprecedented growth. Responsible agencies such as the Puget Sound Regional Council project this dramatic growth to continue. Energize Eastside is needed to maintain reliable and affordable electricity for nearly 400,000 current and untold future PSE electric customers on the Eastside.

Because the electric system is interconnected for the benefit of all, it is a federal requirement to study all electric transmission projects to ensure there are no adverse impacts to the reliability or operating characteristics of PSE’s or any surrounding utilities’ electric systems. Energize Eastside has been studied to ensure it passes that test, and it does.

Since the inception of the Energize Eastside project, PSE has publicly discussed these studies and how the Energize Eastside project fits into the interconnected system. Details can be found in the published studies available on the Energize Eastside project website: PSE.com/energizeeastside.

The studies also clearly demonstrate that Energize Eastside is about local Eastside electricity delivery needs. This local need isn’t diminished by the project’s ability to safely integrate into the interconnected electric system.

Jens Nedrud, senior project manager, Puget Sound Energy – Energize Eastside project