Everyone agrees with the saying, “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”  But who has ever heard of the saying, “if it’s broke, fix it twice?” Evidently, this is the wacky business mantra of the Okanogan County Public Utility District (PUD).

The Methow Valley, one of the most beautiful valleys and important wildlife habitats in Washington State, has been served by an obsolete single high-voltage transmission line for the past 60 years. But rather than simply rebuild the ailing existing line, the PUD has been stubbornly trying since 1998 to build a brand-new second 28 mile-long transmission line through mostly public DNR and WDFW lands containing Okanogan's largest in-tact section of shrub-steppe steppe habitat. This shrub steppe is home to bald and golden eagles, sharp-tailed grouse, and the state’s largest mule deer herd. If built, the new line would cross 72 tributary streams to the Methow River and would require a 21 mile-long maintenance road system that would spread noxious weeds, encourage excess off-road vehicle traffic, and fragment healthy wildlife habitat. The new line could also spawn extensive new development on the private lands nearby.

A local rancher and orchardist whose property would be severely impacted, Dan Gebbers, and two Methow Citizens groups (People for Alternatives, Conservation and Education and the Methow Valley Citizens’ Council) have fought hard against the PUD’s quest to blight this pristine PUBLIC wildlife habitat. Conservation Northwest’s botanist George Wooten has provided critical behind-the-scenes technical advice and Peter Goldman of the Washington Forest Law Center and a long-time Conservation Northwest supporter has served as their pro-bono lawyer.

Virtually all Methow Valley residents agree that the PUD needs to upgrade the existing 60 year “Loup Loup” transmission line. But most do not see any sense in the PUD’s insistence on constructing an entirely new line just so the PUD can serve the rural Methow valley of 7500 residents with two “redundant” transmission lines. At the very least, if the PUD maintains the need for a second transmission line, the PUD could simply build it along State Hwy 153, where there are existing powerlines.

The PUD’s stubborn insistence on building a second Methow transmission line predictably ended up in court. In 1999, the Okanogan Superior Court rejected the PUD’s proposal to build the new second line without an environmental impact statement. But after the PUD spent more than a million dollars on an EIS that, despite its length, was severely flawed and inaccurate, the Superior Court rejected a second challenge in 2006. The Court rejected the argument that the EIS was flawed because it failed to consider the future cumulative environmental and economic costs of the costs of rebuilding the original 60 year old line, a rebuild the PUD concedes will take place within the next 5-10 years. The Court also held that the PUD’s decision was not arbitrary and capricious even though the PUD falsely claimed it could build a second new line at less environmental harm and expense than rebuild the old one. In May of 2008, the Washington State Court of Appeals in Spokane affirmed the Superior Court.

The Court of Appeals’ decision was a tough blow for Mr. Gebbers and the Methow community organizations but they are continuing the fight all the way to the Washington Supreme Court. Maybe the new saying ought to be, “if it’s broke, go ahead and fix it but why the heck build a second one?”