Inslee weighs in on pause of ferry electrification project he championed

One ferry rider with more than a passing interest in the course corrections for Washington State Ferries announced this past week is former Gov. Jay Inslee. 

The three-term Democrat is back at home on Bainbridge Island after vacating the governor’s mansion in January to its new occupant, Gov. Bob Ferguson. Inslee was paying attention on Thursday when Ferguson pressed pause on a ferry electrification project that the former governor championed.

Ferguson and the state ferries chief said they would indefinitely postpone further conversions to rechargeable battery propulsion of the state’s largest ferries. The first diesel guzzler to be converted into a plug-in vessel – the Wenatchee – went $36 million over budget and fell far behind schedule.

“We have to electrify these boats. They are a significant part of our pollution portfolio in our state,” Inslee reacted in an exclusive interview with the Standard. “But we also have to maintain public support and confidence in what we’re doing here.”

Inslee said he was unwilling to criticize his successor’s decision. “We only get one governor at a time,” he said. “I wish him well.”

For his part, Ferguson explained that he was driven by pragmatism to suspend the jumbo ferry overhauls. The move keeps more vessels in the water providing service until WSF can acquire new ferries. After the 202-car Wenatchee returns to the fleet sometime this summer, Ferguson said the beleaguered ferry system will be fully restored to pre-pandemic levels, except for a long-suspended Sidney, British Columbia route.

“Reducing Washington’s carbon footprint is important to people in the state and is certainly important to me,” Ferguson said during a news conference at the downtown Seattle ferry terminal. “But right now, we have to balance a lot of priorities. For me, the priority right now is restoring full service as we had in 2019.”

In the Friday interview, Inslee said the Legislature should set a firm date in the future to restart the conversions of the remaining two Jumbo Mark II-class ferries so that the Wenatchee isn’t left alone as a kind of electrified white elephant ferry.

On a related matter, Ferguson and his predecessor are in alignment about proceeding with the in-progress national bid solicitation for up to five new hybrid-electric car ferries capable of carrying 160 cars each. But the first of those brand new plug-in ferries probably won’t join the fleet before 2028 or 2029.

As to Inslee’s plans for his next act, he reiterated what he said in exit interviews early this year that he’s not ready to retire at the age of 73. Inslee said he’s currently weighing and negotiating possible roles with about six national nonprofits. He said it was too soon to name names, but they all have to do with the “clean energy economy.”

“I do know that I’ll be fully engaged in that. I believe it is the central challenge of our time,” Inslee said. 

Some of the roles entail a leadership position and others would have him be more like an eminent speaker or part-time spokesman, he added.

“I’m not goofing off,” the former governor assured his interviewer, promising to make an official announcement of his new role or roles in the coming weeks or perhaps months.