Would it be required to raise money for “public purposes,” such as low-income assistance programs or weatherization?
PUDs are not required to impose a 3 percent “public purpose” surcharge on electric bills. PUD supporters, though, say a PUD would raise more public purpose money than the more than $15 million a year collected by PGE. PUDs are statutorily required to have a low-income energy assistance program, but how it is designed or administered is up to the individual PUD. If this measure is approved, could the city of Portland still buy PGE? Portland has been negotiating with Enron, so far unsuccessfully, to buy PGE and has the authority to condemn some PGE property because it is privately owned. If the PUD condemned and acquired PGE before the city did, the city could not condemn the publicly owned utility. However, the city could act more quickly than a PUD. Whom would the new PUD serve? A surprisingly tough question. For one, people who live in the east county areas covered by the Rockwood water PUD (13,000 households) and the Interlachen water PUD (150 households) would not be part of the new
