PSE Project in Bridle Trails  by  Loretta Lopez

PSE proposes building a 230 kV power line from Renton to Redmond. The 230kV line will go through Bellevue from the Somerset area through the Bridle Trails area to Redmond.  PSE chose to divide the proposed line into a Southern Segment (Somerset area) and a Northern Segment (Lake Hills, crosses Bel-Red and through Bridle Trails).

Each City must decide whether the project complies with its land use code. The neighborhoods formed the organization CENSE (cense.org) to work together to oppose the proposed PSE project on the basis that the project is not necessary and does not comply with land use codes of the residential areas.

At administrative hearings in Renton and Bellevue (for the Southern Segment) the Hearing Examiners ruled for PSE. The date for the Newcastle administrative hearing has not been set.

PSE has not yet filed an application for the proposed line for the Northern Segment (the Bridle Trails Segment). Once PSE files then we will work to prepare for the administrative hearing. We continue to take the position that it is not necessary to build large industrial power lines through residential areas and that the project is not consistent with land use codes. In addition, the circumstances have changed. The PSE projections of growth in demand have not occurred. The PSE studies of 2015 are old and outdated. The energy solutions now include such alternatives such as batteries and demand response approaches which meet Bellevue’s energy needs.

For specific questions contact me at llopez@mstarlabs.com, or other BTCC members who have worked for years on the issue, Warren Halvorson at whalvrsn1@frontier.com or Norm Hansen at hansennp@aol.com