Frequently Asked Questions
What is Proposition 1?
Proposition 1 gives Kitsap County residents the opportunity to create a public utility district in addition to Puget Sound Energy. This would allow for local control over utility rates and services.
When is the election?
The election for Proposition 1 will take place in November 2026. We are working to ensure that Kitsap County residents are fully informed and prepared to vote on this critical issue.
How will it impact Kitsap County?
By creating a public utility district, Kitsap County residents would have more control over their energy choices. This could lead to more competitive rates and greater transparency in utility operations.
Why is this important?
Public utility choice is vital for local economic growth and energy independence. We believe that residents deserve the right to choose their utility provider and have a say in how their electricity is managed.
Further Reading
Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission. "State regulators approve new rates for PSE." Jan. 2025.
Electric revenue increase of 11.5% effective January 2025, with a further 6.4% in January 2026.
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Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission. "State regulators approve multiple orders impacting Puget Sound Energy rates." 2025.
Net effect for electric customers of roughly 12% effective Jan. 1, 2026, about $17 a month for a typical residential customer.
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Washington State Attorney General's Office. "AG Brown continues fight against excessive energy rate increases with challenge to PSE rate increase." July 30, 2026.
Testimony filed with the UTC opposing PSE's proposal to raise electric rates 29% and gas rates 20% over three years. Attribute the figure to Attorney General Nick Brown.
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MyNorthwest. "Washington AG Nick Brown fights back against PSE's proposed 29% electric, 20% gas rate hikes." July 31, 2026.
Dollar detail: about $28.31 more a month for the average household starting January 2027, rising to $50.58 a month by 2029. PSE would collect an additional $3.396 billion over three years.
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Puget Sound Energy. "Rate news and filings." 2026.
PSE's own account of the three-year rate plan filed Feb. 27, 2026: 15.2% in 2027, 3.7% in 2028, 8.7% in 2029.
POWER Magazine. "Public power's affordability edge faces its hardest test in years." June 2026.
The strongest single citation available. In 2024 public power residential customers averaged $123.78 a month against $139.42 for investor-owned utilities. From 2020 to 2024, investor-owned residential rates rose 27.2% against 11.7% for public power.
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American Public Power Association. "How public power compares to other electric utilities." Undated.
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Sightline Institute. "Who owns a utility matters less for climate than the rules they play by." Aug. 21, 2025.
Independent regional analysis finding customers of the public utilities pay 10% to 34% less than the private companies charged.Â
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Cowlitz County Public Utility District. "What is a PUD?" Undated.
Useful for the PUD count and for the description of PUD governance and BPA purchasing.
United States Code. Title 16, Section 832c. Preference to public bodies and cooperatives.
The statute itself. BPA shall at all times give preference and priority to public bodies and cooperatives. This is the legal foundation of the low-cost power argument and cannot be disputed.
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Bonneville Power Administration. "Provider of Choice resources." Undated.
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Northwest Power and Conservation Council. "Pacific Northwest Consumer Power Preference Act." Undated.
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HistoryLink. "Bonneville Power Administration." Undated.
Washington state history encyclopedia. Accessible and locally rooted — good for the FAQ answer on where PUDs come from.
Public Utility District No. 1 of Kitsap County. Board action on the ballot measure. July 28, 2026.
The resolution placing Proposition No. 1 on the ballot, citing RCW 54.08.070. Four operative sections.Â
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Kitsap Public Utility District. "KPUD board places public power authority measure before voters." July 2026.
Source for the feasibility study commitment, which appears here rather than in the resolution.
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Kitsap Public Utility District. "Electric service public listening session." 2026.
Kitsap Sun. "Kitsap voters to decide on public power authority this fall." July 29, 2026.
Source for the study funding: Board President Debra Lester said KPUD has funds available now, with the study estimated at $300,000 to $600,000.
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Kitsap Sun. "What potential change from PSE to KPUD could mean for Kitsap customers." Aug. 14, 2026.
The most substantive local coverage. Contains the June 2025 JPUD rate survey, an interview with JPUD staff, and the note that the 2008 Jefferson vote passed with 54% support.
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Seattle Times. "Kitsap voters to weigh in on public power amid high energy costs." Aug. 1, 2026.
Source for the claim that PSE rates doubled since 2020 and rose 45% over two years. Paywalled — keep a copy of the relevant passage for the committee's records.
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Bainbridge Island Review. "KPUD places public power authority measure on November ballot." July 29, 2026.
Carries PSE's fullest written statement and its Kitsap workforce figures — more than 70 PSE employees plus more than 50 Potelco employees, including 34 line workers.
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Kitsap Daily News. "KPUD places public power authority measure on November ballot." July 29, 2026.
Daily Energy Insider. "Proposed municipalization effort in Kitsap could put customers at risk, says PSE." 2026.
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Brattle Group. "Electric utility municipalization: key statistics and risk considerations." February 2025.
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Washington Policy Center. "Jefferson PUD to pay double initial estimate for PSE electrical service." Undated.
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Utility Dive. "IOU, co-op or muni? Experts debate the creation of public utilities." Undated.
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PSE and the consultants it funds make four arguments against this measure. Each of them is a reason to gather facts, and none is a reason to refuse to look.
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"This is a blank check." PSE says a Yes vote lets three commissioners spend without limit. In fact, KPUD has already set aside money for a feasibility study, every KPUD meeting is public and open to comment, and the three commissioners are elected directly by Kitsap voters. Any decision to acquire would require further board action in open session, after the study is published.
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"Jefferson County went from $47 million to $109 million." This comparison leaves out half the original number. The 2008 study projected about $47.2 million for the purchase plus $14.7 million in working capital — roughly $61.9 million in total. PSE's own consultant said at the time the cost would be $77 million or more, so PSE knew the lower figure was incomplete. And the final $109 million was a price PSE negotiated and agreed to. The study was wrong about the price. It was right about what mattered: rates in Jefferson County held steady, and today a PSE customer using 800 kWh a month pays 26% more than a JPUD customer. Jefferson's experience is the argument for studying carefully first, which is exactly what this measure funds.
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"Most public power efforts fail." The Brattle Group, whose research is commissioned by investor-owned utilities, counts every abandoned effort as a failure. But most were abandoned because the studies showed the numbers did not work. That is the process succeeding, not failing, and it is precisely what KPUD has committed to do. In Washington, 24 PUDs already deliver electricity across 23 counties.
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"Kitsap is too large for a PUD to handle." Snohomish County PUD serves an entire county and Camano Island and is the second largest publicly owned utility in the Pacific Northwest. Larger systems bring better economies of scale. Right now, Kitsap ratepayers help fund expensive upgrades in fast-growing areas like King County. KPUD already employs nearly 100 people operating water, sewer and broadband systems, maintaining overhead and underground infrastructure, and making repairs during storms.
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PSE also says KPUD has produced no detailed plan to operate an electric utility. That is true, and it is what a feasibility study is for. PSE is demanding the plan while opposing the vote that would authorize producing it. Meanwhile, Washington's Attorney General is challenging PSE's request to raise electric rates 29% over three years as excessive and unreasonable. The case against this measure is that public power might someday raise rates. PSE is asking to raise them now.
Jefferson County — the 2013 switch
Jefferson County voters approved the authority in 2008 by 53%. The purchase closed in March 2013 at $109 million. What follows is what was promised, what it cost, and how it turned out.
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D. Hittle & Associates Inc. "Final report: preliminary feasibility study, Public Utility District No. 1 of Jefferson County electric system acquisition." Oct. 24, 2008.
Peninsula Daily News. "Jefferson PUD board discounts numbers in Puget Sound Energy-backed study." 2008.
Port Townsend and Jefferson County Leader. "Public power two years later." 2015.
Port Townsend and Jefferson County Leader. "PSE gives customers $40 credit for sale of system to PUD." Undated.
Public Utility District No. 1 of Jefferson County. "Mission, vision and history." Undated.
Snohomish County — seventy-five years of public power
Snohomish is the closest thing to a long-run answer. It bought its system in 1949 and has operated it ever since, which means there is three-quarters of a century of record rather than a decade.
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Snohomish County Public Utility District. "Public power." Undated.
Snohomish voters faced the same arguments Kitsap voters are hearing now: opponents warned about taxes and condemnation powers, and ten local mayors objected that the county would lose the tax revenue the private utility paid. The measure took seventeen years and a U.S. Supreme Court case to complete.
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Snohomish County Public Utility District. "History." Undated.
The PUD bought the distribution system serving all of Snohomish County and Camano Island from Puget Sound Power & Light on Sept. 1, 1949, for $16 million, financed with $19.5 million in electric revenue bonds. No property tax was used.
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Snohomish County Public Utility District. "Quick facts." December 2025.
Snohomish is now the second largest publicly owned utility in the Pacific Northwest and the twelfth largest in the nation by customers served, covering 2,200 square miles. It has also built its own generation over the decades — five hydroelectric projects totaling 132 megawatts.
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Mason County — PUD No. 3
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Mason County Public Utility District No. 3. "Who we are." Undated.
From 1,031 customers to 36,000
Mason bought Puget Sound Power and Light’s properties in the northeast of the county in 1948, adding 1,031 customers. The district now serves more than 36,000 across 600 square miles and buys virtually all its power from Bonneville.
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Mason County Public Utility District No. 3. "The power behind our community." 2019.