On June 10, the Community Council board sent a letter to PSE asking questions related to the Tree Wire Project, and community Input.  Below are the questions the Community Council asked of Puget Sound Energy (PSE) regarding their Tree Wire program, and PSE's partial responses. Because aspects of the Community Council's questions remain unanswered, the Community Council will continue to seek more information from PSE and third parties.

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July 12, 2024 

Dear Ms. Emerson, Vashon Maury Community Council, and PSE Activity Advisory Committee, 

Thank you for your letter dated June 8, 2024. We appreciate your patience as we prepared our response. The subjects of your inquiry are highly complex and we want to ensure that we provide accurate information that helps inform the Vashon-Maury Community Council’s (V-MCC) work. 

In our response below Puget Sound Energy (PSE) replies to the recently-passed motions concerning PSE activity on Vashon-Maury Island as well as your questions relating to the franchise agreement entered into between King County and PSE. We’re also including our response to the request for PSE to join the August 15 public community council meeting as well as a record of the information provided to date by PSE to the V-MCC. 

1. PSE response to recently-passed V-MCC motions 

 

Motion 1: "The Vashon-Maury Community Council (V-MCC) calls upon PSE to restore property rights enshrined in statute into new easement agreements entered into with Islanders, including updating the language of PSE's Standard Overhead Easement Clause #4 to mirror the language of RCW 64.12.035(1)(c). In cases involving potential threats to PSE's systems by vegetation, RCW 64.12.035(1)(c) requires that PSE “attempts written notice by mail... indicating the intent to act or remove vegetation and secures agreement from the affected property owner of record for the cutting, removing, and disposition of the vegetation." Right now, PSE's Standard Overhead Easement Clause #4 eliminates the requirement that PSE obtain, or even attempt to obtain, a property owner's agreement. Out of respect for Islanders' property rights, that should change." 

PSE response: RCW 64.12.035 is not a right to cut trees; it is a defense to a trespass action. In order to operate and maintain its facilities, PSE needs an affirmative right to remove vegetation that presents a hazard to its facilities, which is set forth in sections 3 and 4 of its easement. In recent years, PSE has modified its standard easement form, including incorporating the definitions used in the danger tree statute, to limit its ability to remove trees outside the easement area. Because PSE is often removing trees that present an imminent danger to its facilities, it may not have time to negotiate with a property owner regarding the tree removal. The easement does require PSE to make a reasonable effort to provide notice that it will be removing trees that could damage PSE’s facilities and/or trees that present a hazard to the general public health, safety, or welfare. 

Motion 2: “The V-MCC requests that King County pause the requirement that PSE “bring all non-compliant old poles into compliance” with the King County 'clear zone' program (which PSE is pursuing through easement acquisition) until V-MCC, King County, and PSE have resolved PSE activity issues with the Vashon community with the creation of a comprehensive plan regarding traffic safety and upgrades in the electrical system, allowing Vashon-Maury islanders the opportunity to express their preferred options to address Vashon’s just and unique needs as an island.” Puget Sound Energy P.O. Box 97034 Bellevue, WA 98009-9734 pse.com 

 

PSE response: PSE will defer to King County regarding a response to this motion. We have a contract obligation, via the franchise, to continue working on our Roadside Management Program (RMP) to bring all electric facilities into compliance with King County road standards, including clear zone. PSE cannot agree to a pause without the approval of King County. For the purposes of this motion, PSE does not have any work on Vashon within the scope for our 2024 RMP projects. 

As a matter of clarification, PSE would also like to distinguish between the required RMP work to address all non-compliant poles versus regular, day-to-day electric system work. Any time PSE substantially changes existing facilities, those facilities are required to meet road standards. Motion 2 requests a pause on the “’clear zone’ program”, but there has not yet been any RMP driven work on Vashon yet. The work on Vashon has seen regular, day-to-day PSE projects that, because they are being modified, must now be in compliance with current road safety standards. 

2. PSE response to VMCC questions 

 

Variances 

Q: Has PSE sought variances on Vashon Island, to allow its distribution poles to remain in place? If not, why? 

We found no records of PSE having applied for a variance to clear zone road standards in King County. There are several reasons for this. First and foremost, the clear zone is a safety standard and PSE prioritizes safety and seeks to fully comply with all safety standards in our work. Second, variances from road standards are granted provided that granting the variance will produce a compensating or comparable result which is in the public interest and meet the objectives of the standard based upon sound engineering judgment. There are few viable options to meet the safety goals of the clear zone standard with a pole still within the clear zone. Third, PSE is currently prioritizing higher speed roads in our effort to bring all non-compliant poles into compliance with current standards. This means that Vashon poles, which are located on low speed roads, are being brought into compliance with current road standards while PSE is doing other work that involves the poles, such as reliability work, maintenance, or customer-driven projects. 

Undergrounding 

Q: Has PSE considered undergrounding (or on-grounding) of distribution lines on Vashon Island as an alternative to installation of new overhead lines? If not, why not? 

Yes, PSE reviews each distribution project to make sure it is providing reliable and safe electric service at an appropriate cost. Of the 257 miles of electric lines PSE currently operates and maintains on Vashon Island, 113 miles of underground cable, or 44% of facilities on the island, have already been placed underground. It is worth reiterating some of the challenges with undergrounding power lines: 

a. Environmental and neighborhood impacts: Putting power lines underground can have significant environmental and neighborhood impacts. Undergrounding requires extensive vegetation removal, trenching and installation of large access vaults every quarter to half mile, which can be very disruptive to neighborhoods and the environment. While some vegetation can remain under or beside an overhead line, vegetation must be removed along an underground power line route to ensure trees’ root systems do not grow into the line. 

b. Length of time for outage restoration: Underground lines typically take longer to repair, and repairs are more difficult. When an overhead line fails, our crews can often repair it within hours. Repair of underground power lines can take days and even weeks, depending on the repairs that need to be made. 

c. Maintenance challenges: Overhead power line maintenance typically includes visual inspections, pole treatment and vegetation management. Underground power lines are more difficult to maintain due to their unique design and operating conditions. Underground cables are sensitive to changes in soil cover and aboveground changes, and patrolling is necessary to assess changes in soil depth, cover type, vegetation changes, or other issues that could impact the ability of the line to dissipate heat effectively. 

d. Aesthetics: While the majority of an underground power line is not visible above ground, vaults are typically installed every quarter to half mile, and above-ground steel termination structures are installed at the end of the underground cable route – see images below. 

 

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e. Easements. PSE must acquire easements whenever underground placement of power lines is not possible in the right-of-way. PSE also often requires easements for placement of the vaults and transformers due to clearance standards and the size of the vaults. Vegetation must be cleared from around the vaults. 

 

PSE will continue to evaluate all of its options, including undergrounding, for future projects on the island to make sure that it continues to provide the safe, reliable, and affordable service. 

On-grounding is an experimental pilot project that PG&E is evaluating within the context of extreme wildfire risk in California. PSE tracks emerging industry technologies and will incorporate tools as they become viable options within our regulatory environment. On-grounding is not yet at that point. 

For further information provided to the V-MCC on undergrounding and the on-grounding pilot see pages 5-8 on the attached Information shared with V-MCC document. 

Easements 

Q: Is PSE willing to modify its standard easement contract terms on Vashon Island, to hew more closely to statute? 

Please see our response to Motion 1. 

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3. August 15, 2024 VMCC meeting 

PSE understands that at the August 15 VMCC public council meeting Tricia Davis from King County Roads will present and take questions on King County’s “Clear Zone” Standards. As previously noted, PSE operates within a highly regulated framework governed by the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission, federal and state laws, county and city codes, and numerous other regulations. One of the things we need to abide by is King County “Clear Zone” Standards. Therefore, PSE will defer to King County to present and respond to questions at the meeting. 

Karen Brubeck plans to call into the August 15 meeting and will share information back internally but will not take questions. We understand that related topics such as tree wire, easements, and undergrounding may arise from the Clear Zone discussion. Due to the highly complex nature of these topics, it is not feasible for PSE to provide brief responses without adequate context and education for islanders. Therefore, we have attached all the responses we have provided to the VMCC and PSE Advisory Committee to date. We request that these responses be shared with the VMCC membership and posted on the website for all Vashon Island residents to access. 

We are grateful for your recognition that PSE has been responsive to the work of the V-MCC and advisory committee as we want to ensure the V-MCC and larger Vashon community have accurate information about PSE’s work on the island. However we do want to continue to emphasize that we have limited flexibility on these issues since we are so highly regulated. 

Thank you, 

PSE Vashon Team, sent by 

Karen M. Brubeck (she/her)

Community Affairs Manager

Government & Community Affairs

PUGET SOUND ENERGY

360.890.5066
karen.brubeck@pse.com

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For additional historical correspondence between the Community Council and PSE on this matter, Please click here.

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