...a community-owned and governed utility, created to provide safe, reliable and cost-based electric and wholesale telecommunication services...
Learn more about
and what you can do to help.
To Report Outages
360-432-1533 (Shelton)
360-275-6518 (Belfair)
360-861-4247 (Elma)
360-432-1533 (Shelton)
360-275-6518 (Belfair)
360-861-4247 (Elma)
Mason PUD News
Nearly 92 Percent of Mason County PUD 3 Electricity Comes from Renewable Sources
Posted September 7, 2012
97 Percent of Energy used by PUD Customers is Carbon Free
Mason County PUD No. 3 today released its annual report on its sources of electricity. For another year, customers can be pleased about PUD 3’s excellent mix of energy sources.
According to the report, which is based on the Washington State Department of Commerce’s “Utility Fuel Mix Report for 2012,” 92 percent of the wholesale electricity purchased by the PUD comes from renewable sources, such as hydroelectricity, and qualifying energy sources under the Washington State Energy Independence Act (Initiative 937). Nearly five percent of the electricity comes from the Columbia Generating Station, a nuclear power plant in south-central Washington.
According to the study, only three percent of the PUD 3 electricity comes from fossil fuel plants.
Legislation passed in 2000 directed electric utilities in Washington to report their fuel mix to customers. The 2011 fuel mix for PUD 3 (reported in 2012) listed as a percentage of the total is:
|
Mason County PUD No. 3
2011 Fuel Mix
|
|
|
91%
|
|
|
Nuclear
|
5%
|
|
Coal
|
2%
|
|
Natural Gas
|
1%
|
|
Wind
|
1%
|
|
Biomass
|
0
|
|
Waste
|
0
|
|
Petroleum
|
0
|
|
Landfill Gases
|
0
|
|
Other
|
0
|
|
Cogeneration
|
0
|
|
Geothermal
|
0
|
|
Solar
|
0
|
|
Total
|
100%
|
In general, public utilities tend to have a much cleaner mix of energy sources than other power providers in the Pacific Northwest. Of the utilities in Washington State that are subject to the Washington State Energy Independence Act (I-937), public utilities have a small percentage of their fuel mix in fossil fuel plants. The fuel mix for these 14 public utilities averages about 5.5% percent from coal and gas plants. For the three large investor-owned utilities (IOUs), just over 30% of their fuel mix includes coal and about 13% natural gas for their energy.
|
2011 Fuel Mix Report
|
|||
|
Source: Washington State Department of Commerce: "Utility Fuel Mix Report for 2012"
|
|||
|
Public Utilities/Investor Owned Utilities Fuel Mixes
(PUD's are I-937 threshold)
|
|||
|
Investor Owned Utilities
|
Coal %
|
Gas %
|
Fossil Fuel %
|
|
Avista
|
22.75
|
18.36
|
41.11
|
|
PacifiCorp
|
36.63
|
10.03
|
46.66
|
|
Puget Sound Energy
|
31.72
|
11.56
|
43.28
|
|
Average Investor-Owned Utility Fossil Fuel
|
30.37%
|
13.32%
|
43.68%
|
|
Public Utilities
|
Coal %
|
Gas %
|
Fossil Fuel %
|
|
Benton PUD
|
2.97
|
2.12
|
5.09
|
|
Chelan PUD
|
2.91
|
0.80
|
3.71
|
|
Clallam PUD
|
2.13
|
0.67
|
2.80
|
|
Clark Public Utilities
|
4.00
|
23.03
|
27.03
|
|
Cowlitz PUD
|
2.28
|
0.70
|
2.98
|
|
Grant PUD
|
11.08
|
3.06
|
14.14
|
|
Grays Harbor PUD
|
1.23
|
0.43
|
1.66
|
|
Inland Power & Light
|
2.03
|
0.64
|
2.67
|
|
Lewis PUD
|
2.76
|
0.84
|
3.60
|
|
Mason County PUD #3
|
2.10
|
0.66
|
2.76
|
|
Peninsula Light Company
|
2.03
|
0.64
|
2.67
|
|
Seattle City Light
|
0.52
|
0.18
|
0.70
|
|
Snohomish PUD
|
4.03
|
1.17
|
5.20
|
|
Tacoma Public Utilities
|
1.96
|
0.60
|
2.56
|
|
Average Public Utility Fossil Fuel
|
3.00%
|
2.54%
|
5.54%
|