The state's utilities, which are funded by ratepayers, are already seeking alternative energy sources because it's good business.

The Pacific Northwest, with it's clean, inexpensive electric power created by the dams on the Columbia and Snake rivers, is the envy of the nation.

Why then should it be necessary to approve Initiative 937, which mandates that the larger utilities in Washington state obtain 15 percent of their power from other clean, renewable sources?

It's not. This state is already ahead of the nation.

Yet, I-937 does not consider hydropower a clean source of power. We believe it is. I-937 refers only to wind and solar as acceptable clean, renewable power.

And while it is important to expand the sources of clean, renewable energy to wean ourselves off fossil fuels, it's a mistake to mandate that utilities obtain a certain percentage of power from wind and solar sources.

Utilities in Washington state are already exploring this alternative - just look to the wind turbines on hills around Walla Walla and Dayton.

The utilities, which are funded by ratepayers, are seeking alternative energy sources because it's good business. The market is working.

If the mandates of I-937 were imposed, the cost of power could be driven up for individual consumers as the cheaper hydropower would be sold out of state and replaced with more expensive sources.

Beyond this, we don't like the idea of trying to regulate the sources of power on a state-by-state basis. A better approach is to look at this issue on a national scale, which to some extent is being done by offering tax breaks for alternative energy sources.

If the federal government mandated that 15 percent of all power be generated from clean sources such as wind, solar and hydro, then you would see a significant shift on our reliance on oil, coal and other fossil fuels.

The good intentions of I-937 don't outweigh its problems. We urge voters to reject this initiative.