Walt Blackford, Langley’s former city administrator, will be in charge of Puget Sound Energy’s new customer service office in Freeland.
“There is tremendous unrealized potential for reducing the demand for electricity on Whidbey Island,” Blackford said. “Given my personal commitment to sustainability, I am excited by this opportunity to increase awareness of and participation in PSE’s energy efficiency and conservation programs.”
The office will open Tuesday, Oct. 14 at 1794 Main St. in Freeland. A public grand opening celebration will be held from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.
Designed to serve South Whidbey Island, the office will be managed by Blackford, a Langley resident, and also staffed by Deborah Buse, a customer service representative and resident of Freeland.
In his capacity as city administrator, Blackford worked on emergency preparedness issues related to the power outages following the winter storms of 2006/2007 and also worked on conservation issues.
During his tenure at the city he also helped create the position of conservation manager, partially funded by a grant through the Puget Sound Energy community resource conservation program. However, when Mayor Paul Samuelson took office in January, Blackford was let go.
“We’re thrilled that Walt has chosen to join the PSE team,” said Phil Bussey, senior vice president for corporate affairs at Puget Sound Energy. “Walt’s been involved with sustainability issues for more than 25 years. With his resource conservation experience and strong desire to serve his community, we know he will work tirelessly to help our South Whidbey Island customers.”
With 18 years of accounting and customer service experience, Buse said, she is excited to be a local customer service representative for PSE.
“I’m confident I will be able to enhance PSE customer service on the island,” she added.
In addition to Blackford and Buse, PSE’s Freeland office will house rotating regional staff. Following the signing of a long-term lease earlier this year, PSE converted the former bakery into the Freeland office by incorporating energy- efficient upgrades, including lighting and recycled carpeting. The building features some recycled timbers as well.
PSE serves more than 34,000 customers on Whidbey Island, which boasts 19 renewable energy systems that are connected to PSE’s grid, representing 36.7 kilowatts of electric generation capacity.
In addition, Puget Sound Energy’s Green Power program has a high rate of participation in Island County with 633 residential customers and 18 commercial customers. Since 2002, Puget Sound Energy has been recognized as offering one of the top 10 Green Power programs in the country.
“We expect energy efficiency to provide 20 percent of PSE’s added power supply over the next 20 years,” Bussey said. “We want to make it easy for our existing and new customers to take advantage of all of our services by being able to conveniently visit PSE at either end of the island.”
PSE’s Freeland office will be open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday. The office will help promote energy efficiency and offer traditional customer service and bill-payment assistance. Company officials said it is designed to compliment the Oak Harbor office, which has been operated since 1989.
“As an energy company, it is important for us to bring energy efficiency to local communities in addition to our traditional customer utility services,” Bussey said.
“We listened to our customers and are responding with this new office to help give area residents and businesses the necessary tools to conserve, be more energy efficient and protect the environment with personalized customer service.”
