Ferguson may delay converting ferries to electric power

||| FROM THE SEATTLE TIMES |||

CLINTON, WHIDBEY ISLAND — Describing the Washington State Ferries system as “in crisis,” Gov.-elect Bob Ferguson said he may postpone the ongoing work to convert the fleet’s largest ferries to electric power.

“That is something I’m very interested in,” he told a group of elected officials, business representatives and ferry advocates gathered at Clinton Community Hall on Wednesday, a week before he formally takes office.

Ferguson said delaying conversion was “not ideal,” and that no decision would be made until he had “conversations with folks who have a big role in all of that.”

Still, it’s a stark departure in policy from that of outgoing Gov. Jay Inslee, who Ferguson described as a “close friend of mine and an ally.”

While he vowed to stay the course on the larger project to electrify the fleet, beginning with the construction of up to five new electric ferries, Ferguson said he’s tasked his budget team with finding a way to get more boats on the water, and faster.

“I’m a firm believer that when you have a crisis, you need to make decisions based on that. … You have to make choices you wouldn’t otherwise normally make,” Ferguson said. “We have a lot of challenges in the state, a lot of needs in the state, but only so many things are in the category of: We have a crisis. And we need to act like it.”

Ferguson also reiterated something he said on the campaign trail: He would bring diesel-powered boats to the fleet if it meant a quicker return to normal service for the ferry system, the nation’s largest. The system has been running a reduced schedule for years, and doesn’t anticipate returning to full service until at least 2028.

“We are moving to electric,” Ferguson said. “I support that. But the most important thing is we need more boats on the water. If we get more boats on the water, faster, that are diesel — I am sorry, I know this bothers some of my friends — but that is what I will do.”

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