Don’t delay protection of the Salish Sea
— from Suzanne Olson for OPALCO —
The current WS Ferries Long range plan for deploying electric ferries puts the San Juan routes last on the list. Why lose decades in our efforts to protect the Salish Sea – and all of the species who depend on it? OPALCO is calling for WSF to prioritize getting the new, cleaner, quieter and super-efficient electric ferries to the San Juan Islands route FIRST.
Carbon pollution impacts our sensitive marine environment through acidification, warming air and water temperatures and changes to shoreline health and levels. Ferries make up 63% of the carbon emissions from the Washington State Transportation Fleet. The number of species that are affected in the Salish Sea area of the Puget Sound is remarkably concentrated and diverse: humans, Orcas whales, salmon, oysters, clams, bait fish, near shore eelgrass and kelp beds, birds, otters, seals, sea lions, invertebrates, and myriad other fish and mammal species.
In addition to carbon (and other contaminant) pollution, vessel noise has been identified as a major barrier to the health and survival of our Southern Resident Orcas Whales. The Governor’s 2019-2021 budget initiative states: “The frequent daily transits of Washington state ferries are a significant contributor to underwater noise in Puget Sound.”
OPALCO is ready and willing to help WSDOT meet the needs of electric ferries on the San Juan Islands routes. In 2019, OPALCO will install the first of many battery energy storage systems which can be utilized to help offset the large peaks that charging electric ferries will incur. OPALCO also brings to the table gigabit fiber and wireless infrastructure throughout the San Juan Islands routes to assist WSF with real-time monitoring and data sharing.
It goes without saying that Governor Inslee is particularly invested in the health and sustainability of our small inland sea and has already allocated significant resources to address the issues that put it, and our resident Orca pods in particular, at risk.
“My gratitude goes out to staff of WSDOT Ferries and our local Ferry Advisory Committee,” said OPALCO General Manager Foster Hildreth. “For letting our legislators know that our ferry system is broken and we have to fix it. OPALCO wants to help WSF pilot electric ferries here in the islands! As a Co-op, we can support the effort and help shorten the learning curve.”
Adding electric ferries to OPALCO’s system provides a number of benefits: it adds local revenue through new power demand at a time of declining energy usage due to climate change and efficiency gains; and it opens up the potential for a ferry to act as a battery and provide a power source to the islands during extreme emergency situations. Reliable, clean transportation is just as important as power and internet.
Please reach out to your elected officials and ask them to encourage the WSDOT Ferries to deploy electric ferries on the San Juan Islands routes FIRST.
It’s not that we mind the notion of hand-me-downs boats – islanders are boot-strappers – but the opportunities for significant, measurable results are far too great to ignore. Please help us get the reliable electrified ferry service that is appropriate for our environmentally sensitive environment – before it’s too late.
The complete letter sent by OPALCO to WSDOT Ferries is online: https://www.opalco.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Electrify-Ferries_SJI-FIRST.pdf
Orcas Power & Light Cooperative (OPALCO) is our member-owned cooperative electric utility, serving more than 11,000 members on 20 islands in San Juan County. OPALCO provides electricity that is 95% greenhouse-gas free and is generated predominantly by hydroelectric plants. OPALCO was founded in 1937. Follow OPALCO @OrcasPower on Facebook and Twitter.
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Thank you Suzanne and Foster for showing WSDOT how to earn a win for all of Washington State by partnering with OPALCO and SJ County for early deployment of new electric ferries. This is huge for all of us and a big step to a low-carbon future.
Suzanne and Foster,
In the second paragraph in this guest opinion and in your letter to WSF you say that the Salish Sea is part of Puget Sound “in the Salish Sea area of the Puget Sound”. In fact the opposite is true. From the SeaDoc Society website https://www.seadocsociety.org/about-the-salish-sea/ “The Salish Sea is an inland sea that encompasses Puget Sound, the San Juan Islands and the waters off of Vancouver, BC. The area spans from Olympia, Washington in the south to the Campbell River, British Columbia in the north, and west to Neah Bay and includes the large cities of Seattle and Vancouver.”
I agree that the San Juan routes would be great place for WSF to pilot this project and I support OPALCO in their lobbying efforts, but as you can see any boat that WSF electrifies will benefit the Salish Sea.
The electricity to operate these ferries – is there a systems-level model showing the effect the production of that electricity has on the Salish Sea?
In particular, since this region seems to rely on hydropower, do those dams impact salmon populations? How does that influence our local killer whale population?
Are there charts and graphs and such available?
Etc.
Thank you for your letter encouraging the use of electrical propulsion in an interisland ferry. Reduction of both air and water quality, less noise, and more reliability will result from electrification. It will also be of economic benefit to the state: a report I read evaluating the Seattle – Bremerton ferry run as a candidate for electrification shows that there is an economic incentive over diesel even when figuring-in the eventual degradation of the batteries.
I have followed the potential for the electrification of all vessels — from large tankers to small boats — for several years. From speaking to marine electrical engineers I see that a major challenge will be to get the required electricity aboard the ferry during the short turnaround periods of unloading/loading. However, the use of robotic equipment such as that used by car manufacturers on the dock may very well meet the safety and time issues.
I also suggest redundant charging systems at widely separated docks so that an unrelated incident at the dock where the primary charging occurs cannot affect the entire route.
A final thought — many people do not realize that most of lithium-ion batteries can be recycled.
There will be people who will look at this letter as an effort by OPALCO as a means to jack-up electrical sales. Please let informed members of the community like myself help support this important effort to improve our ferries.
So glad this has sparked discussion. Dimitri – you are correct about the Salish Sea definition. My bad. Brian – I encourage you attend the WSF public meetings on electrifying the ferries to learn more. There is a good recent article about salmon that our local Orca pods rely on – mostly from the Frasier River where there are no dams: https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/environment/fraser-river-chinook-critical-to-orcas-are-in-steep-decline-new-research-shows/.