LETTER TO THE EDITOR: PUDs serve people, not profit

Published 10:17 am Sunday, July 27, 2008

To the editor:

I am excited about the possibility of a public utility district here on Whidbey Island. Having grown up in eastern Oregon and Washington, I have been served by PUDs much of my life and have felt far better served by a publicly-owned utility than by a monopolistic commercial business such as Puget Sound Energy.

A PUD is a democratic organization, run by the people and for the people. It is about as American as you can get.

My brother, Buz Ketcham, is a PUD commissioner in Cowlitz County and has been a supporter and advocate for publicly-owned power all of his life. While he is a politically conservative guy and I am politically very liberal, we agree on this important matter. Publicly-owned utility companies are a great investment in democracy!

I’ll be contributing to this extremely far-sighted effort to bring our energy needs into the control of our local citizens.

Kit Ketcham

Freeland