Jack Pratt recently wrote about the high cost of electrical energy he is paying as a Puget Sound Energy customer. I can empathize with Mr. Pratt's plight as a retired homeowner. He mentioned that he wanted more facts to understand why his rates are so high.

A good place to start is with the passage of I-937. Only one county (Klickitat) east of the Cascade Mountains passed I-937, but it effectively mandates the use of 15 percent renewable energy production for any utility with over 25,000 customers.

The Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission (WUTC) regulates three investor-owned electric utilities in our state - Avista, Puget Sound Energy, and PacifiCorp. WUTC is charged with being the consumer watchdog over the state's vital public utilities as well as giving the companies they regulate a chance to earn a "fair return." They must make sure their decisions mesh with a multitude of federal and state laws over which they have no control. And these "multitude of laws" are precisely why Mr. Pratt's rates are so high.

Of the three regulated electric utilities, PSE has the highest electric rates - 41 percent higher than Avista and 45 percent higher than Pacific Power. Since another recent Washington state law disallows any Washington utility from entering into any new contracts for power sources derived from coal; that leaves natural gas as the only viable source of energy to meet demand. Natural gas is the most expensive energy source around and will only become more expensive over time. PSE has indicated it intends to build a wind farm one year and a natural gas fired plant the next year to back it up. It will be able to justify its rate increase requests to the WUTC because laws must be met. This is effectively a license to print money.

So, Mr. Pratt, don't bother asking PSE why your rates are so high, but instead ask your state legislators and Gov. Gregoire why they are so high. Answers you will not receive are that there is a lack of competition for commercial electrical power generation and that government has created and micro-manages artificial, mandated energy markets.

But you might also want to ask PSE: Who is paying for the ($2 million) 3,000-square-foot, octagonal main display and exhibit building and 2,000-square-foot rectangular building adjoining it for meeting and classroom space at the Wild Horse Wind Power Project for tourists from Western Washington?