Seattle Scraps Skagit Power Expansion
A power project costing $11 million faces an uncertain future as the city council fires the engineering crew and halts construction.
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Plans for future development of the Skagit power project were halted last week by the passing of an ordinance calling for the dissolution of the organization built up by C. F. Uhden, Skagit engineer. The resolution expresses the view of the majority of the council that with the completion of the first or Gorge unit, a lull in the development work under municipal ownership should take place until such a time as a concrete policy can be decided upon and until it is determined how much power can be developed by the project on which over $11,000,000 has already been expended. As a result, a construction and engineering crew numbering 222 men must hunt new jobs away from city employment. The resolution was passed in the face of a request from Uhden that the council authorize a new bond issue of $6,000,000 to build a concrete dam at Gorge Creek. Councilman Philip Tindall, chairman of the public utilities committee, noted that while the project was originally estimated to cost $6,700,000 for a 53,000-horsepower plant, costs have ballooned to $11,000,000 while projected output remains low for much of the year.
“With the plant nearly completed, engineers report that at a cost of $11,000,000, provision is made for only 60,000 horsepower for four or five months in the year.”
This 1924 decision reflects the long and often contentious history of Seattle’s municipal energy projects. Even today, debates over the environmental impact and fiscal sustainability of the Skagit dams remain a central pillar of local political discourse.
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