Public Records Request
| Tracking # |
2018-01 |
| Submitted | Jan. 8, 2018 |
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Communications
From: Annette Huenke
To Whom It May Concern:
Pursuant to RCW Ch. 42.56 (Public Records Act), I hereby request the following records:
Any correspondence, letters, writings, emails, recordings, memos, notes, or documents of any kind, whether in printed or electronic form, containing Benton County Public Utility District customer concerns or complaints about advanced digital power meters, from January 2009 to present.
When I refer to “concerns or complaints,” I am referring to any and all PUD ratepayer comments about cost, billing, accuracy, safety, privacy, security and health regarding the AMI electronic meters that replaced the meters in service prior to 2009.
Please provide electronic records in their native electronic format (i.e., do not create new records by printing, then digitizing, electronic records).
The requested documents will be made available to the general public, and this request is not being made for commercial purposes.
In the event that there are fees, I would be grateful if you would inform me of the total charges in advance of fulfilling my request. I would prefer the request filled electronically, by e-mail attachment if available or CD-ROM if not.
Thank you in advance for your anticipated cooperation in this matter. I look forward to receiving your response to this request within 5 business days, as the statute requires.
Sincerely,
Annette Huenke
From: Benton County Public Utility District
Attached is Benton PUD’s initial response to your below public records request. For future reference please use PRR 2018-01 when communicating regarding this request.
Thank you.
Terri Cole
Public Records Officer
Supervisor of Executive Administration
From: Annette Huenke
regarding PRR 2018-01 :
Thank you for your reply and point of clarification, Terri.
No, your regular communications to the customers will not be necessary.
Can you provide an estimate of how much you anticipate this costing? I have no way of telling by looking at the fees.
Annette Huenke
From: Benton County Public Utility District
Our fee schedule includes a “no fee” statement for total costs $5.00 or under. I do not anticipate we will reach the $5.00 limit with our response. Thank you.
From: Annette Huenke
Thank you!
From: Benton County Public Utility District
Benton PUD is continuing to review public records responsive to the above request, and we have identified some records that you may or may not want. They are listed below:
1. Correspondence from customers asking for an Opt-Out Agreement, and the District's response letters. These records do not contain any information related to customer concerns or issues, only asking for the opt-out agreement. Our response is a standard formatted letter/agreement for the customer to sign and return. Please advise if you want all of this correspondence and/or if you would like a copy of the opt-out agreement, all opt-out agreements, or if you do not want these records. Also please note that the District will be providing an exemption log of records that identify customer addresses. Further explanation of redacting customer addresses will be provided when the records are disclosed.
2. Two public records requests from the same customer in the year 2012 asking for information and expressing concern about the District's automated/smart meters. The initial correspondence from the customer is directly responsive to your request. However, there are a large amount of e-mails and attachments relating to research material and internal District information as well. The information is related to health, safety, etc., however it is not directly responsive to your request for customer correspondence. An option would be to provide you with the entire 2012 request and responses, which would be approximately 40 megabytes, or provide you only with the letters and correspondence from the customer where they are expressing concern of the automated meters, but not that correspondence relating to managing the records request and other research information relating to the meters. Please let us know your preference.
Thank you for the above review. We will await your answer prior to final processing. We continue anticipate producing the records by February 1, 2018 unless additional time is needed after the above questions are answered. If an extension of time is needed you will be notified.
If you have any questions I can be reached at (509) 582-1222 or colet@bentonpud.org<mailto:colet@bentonpud.org>
Terri Cole
Public Records Officer
Supervisor of Executive Administration
________________________________
Disclaimer: Public documents and records are available to the public as required under the Washington State Public Records Act (RCW 42.56). The information contained in all correspondence with a public entity may be disclosable to third party requesters under the Public Records Act.
From: Benton County Public Utility District
Attached is our complete records production, closing letter and exemption log. Thank you.
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