The two candidates running for the District 3 PUD Commissioner seat in November have very different viewpoints regarding the PUD’s budget and how to handle the public utility district’s finances in the next coming years.
Russ Skolrood is the incumbent District 3 commissioner and running for his second term with the PUD after being elected to the seat in 2008. He has lived on the Harbor all his life and graduated from Hoquiam High School in 1979, where he now teaches commercial art and photography.
Skolrood initially decided to run for the position as a way to make a positive impact on residents of Grays Harbor, an area that he is passionate about.
“I thought it was a chance to affect change in an area that I was interested in. It’s a valuable position because you get to make decisions that reflect directly the quality of life for the people around you,” he said.
John Straka, Skolrood’s challenger, is also a lifelong resident of the Harbor, owns Straka Trucking and has worked as a social worker in the past. He decided to run for the position in an attempt to rectify decisions the PUD has made in the past that he hasn’t agreed with.
“I have been following the PUD since about 2008 and have been upset with a lot of the decisions they’ve made. At some point you have to stick your feet in the water and try to change it,” he said.
Both candidates are concerned with the PUD’s costs and finding ways to serve Grays Harbor in a way that is most effective for its residents. However, when it comes to rates paid by consumers, Skolrood and Straka disagree on what the best solution is. Currently, the residential rate for power is 8.5 cents per kilowatt hour.
Skolrood feels that it is impossible to lower power prices for Harbor residents without cutting into the PUD’s infrastructure, which he feels is necessary to keep the utility system running smoothly.
“That’s the toughest part of the job: controlling the rates. It’s (the PUD), not a for-profit agency. The idea is to make sure you have a safe and reliable system; costs go up for transformers and pole lines. Our power costs come from the Bonneville Power Administration and that’s 70 percent of our budget. You cut everything out that can to be as efficient as possible, but at a certain point you’re still tied to keeping the system safe and reliable. To say I would lower rates would be a lie. It’s not financially responsible,” he said.
Straka, on the other hand, believes the PUD needs to lower rates to attract more business to the area. He believes cutting costs is a feasible option and a way to propel the economy.
“The reason we have a PUD is for cheap power rates to bring in business,” he said. “When you have high electrical costs, it makes it very difficult for these businesses. They can’t hire, they can’t expand because they become a slave to the PUD,” he said.
Straka added that, if elected, he would reconsider spending within the organization.
“On any given day you see ten cars behind the PUD. You have to look critically at how the money is being spent.”
In regards to Initiative 937, a ballot measure passed in 2006 that requires large public utilities to have a certain amount of their power produced by renewable resources, both candidates think the proposal is costly and something that is hurting the residents of Grays Harbor. The measure forces utility companies to have 20 percent of their power produced by renewable energy sources by 2020, with incremental increases fulfilled each year. The proposal requires 9 percent of power produced by utility companies to be created by renewable energy sources by 2016.
Skolrood likes the idea, but says the initiative inadvertently hinders Washington. He said that generating wind power, for instance, is roughly three times the cost of what the PUD would normally pay for traditional sources of energy. This price increase falls on the consumer.
“It’s really frustrating to me because the Harbor is one of the hardest-hit areas economically,” he said.
He added that those who can’t afford implementing renewable energy sources in their homes suffer higher electricity costs, as well. The PUD subsidizes customers who purchase environmental friendly water heaters or insulated windows and therefore need to make up for the revenue lost by charging other customers more.
Straka disagrees with I-937 and believes residents should voice their concerns.
“You need to mobilize ratepayers. People need to contact their legislators and make sure they’re making decisions that are consistent with the welfare of the Harbor,” he said.
Both Skolrood and Straka believe their past experience will give them an edge if elected as District 3 commissioner. Skolrood cites his experience already working at the PUD, while Straka mentions his background in business.
“I think when you do six years on the term you get a lot of knowledge on how complicated it is to run a system effectively. We’ve done a lot of team-building and I think I’m an integral part of that and I want to continue to be a part of it,” said Skolrood.
Straka feels his diverse work experience will provide a new way of looking at PUD issues.
“I look at things differently. I have an agency background, I worked for the Department of Social &Health Services for 30 years, and I’ve also had paralegal training. Since 1985 I’ve had a trucking company. I have that business background and I’ve been an owner-operator. I have a perspective from a business point of view,” he said.
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