wa-law.org > bill > 2025-26 > HB 1679 > Original Bill
The legislature finds that nuclear energy is a safe and reliable source of nonemitting energy and that all electricity provided to Washington retail electric customers must be from nonemitting or renewable resources by January 1, 2045. The legislature finds that advanced nuclear reactors hold great promise for delivering significant amounts of nonemitting energy to the grid with enhanced safety and increased efficiency. Nuclear energy is a clean, firm complement to renewable resources, has low land-use requirements, and provides high-paying jobs and regional economic benefits. Therefore, the legislature finds value in encouraging electric utilities to invest now in new advanced nuclear reactor projects as these utilities work to comply with clean energy transformation act requirements by 2045.
It is the policy of the state that all retail sales of electricity to Washington retail electric customers be greenhouse gas neutral by January 1, 2030.
For the four-year compliance period beginning January 1, 2030, and for each multiyear compliance period thereafter through December 31, 2044, an electric utility must demonstrate its compliance with this standard using a combination of nonemitting electric generation and electricity from renewable resources, or alternative compliance options, as provided in this section. To achieve compliance with this standard, an electric utility must: (i) Pursue all cost-effective, reliable, and feasible conservation and efficiency resources to reduce or manage retail electric load, using the methodology established in RCW 19.285.040, if applicable; and (ii) use electricity from renewable resources and nonemitting electric generation in an amount equal to one hundred percent of the utility's retail electric loads over each multiyear compliance period. An electric utility must achieve compliance with this standard for the following compliance periods: January 1, 2030, through December 31, 2033; January 1, 2034, through December 31, 2037; January 1, 2038, through December 31, 2041; and January 1, 2042, through December 31, 2044.
Through December 31, 2044, an electric utility may satisfy up to twenty percent of its compliance obligation under (a) of this subsection with an alternative compliance option consistent with this section. An alternative compliance option may include any combination of the following:
Making an alternative compliance payment under RCW 19.405.090(2);
Using unbundled renewable energy credits, provided that there is no double counting of any nonpower attributes associated with renewable energy credits within Washington or programs in other jurisdictions, as follows:
(A) Unbundled renewable energy credits produced from eligible renewable resources, as defined under RCW 19.285.030, which may be used by the electric utility for compliance with RCW 19.285.040 and this section as provided under RCW 19.285.040(2)(e); and
(B) Unbundled renewable energy credits, other than those included in (b)(ii)(A) of this subsection, that represent electricity generated within the compliance period;
iii. Investing in energy transformation projects, including additional conservation and efficiency resources beyond what is otherwise required under this section, provided the projects meet the requirements of subsection (2) of this section and are not credited as resources used to meet the standard under (a) of this subsection;
iv. Using electricity from an energy recovery facility using municipal solid waste as the principal fuel source, where the facility was constructed prior to 1992, and the facility is operated in compliance with federal laws and regulations and meets state air quality standards. An electric utility may only use electricity from such an energy recovery facility if the department and the department of ecology determine that electricity generation at the facility provides a net reduction in greenhouse gas emissions compared to any other available waste management best practice. The determination must be based on a life-cycle analysis comparing the energy recovery facility to other technologies available in the jurisdiction in which the facility is located for the waste management best practices of waste reduction, recycling, composting, and minimizing the use of a landfill; or
v. Investing in an advanced nuclear reactor project.
c. Electricity from renewable resources used to meet the standard under (a) of this subsection must be verified by the retirement of renewable energy credits. Renewable energy credits must be tracked and retired in the tracking system selected by the department.
d. Hydroelectric generation used by an electric utility in meeting the standard under (a) of this subsection may not include new diversions, new impoundments, new bypass reaches, or expansion of existing reservoirs constructed after May 7, 2019, unless the diversions, bypass reaches, or reservoir expansions are necessary for the operation of a pumped storage facility that: (i) Does not conflict with existing state or federal fish recovery plans; and (ii) complies with all local, state, and federal laws and regulations.
e. Nothing in (d) of this subsection precludes an electric utility that owns and operates hydroelectric generating facilities, or the owner of a hydroelectric generating facility whose energy output is marketed by the Bonneville power administration, from making efficiency or other improvements to its hydroelectric generating facilities existing as of May 7, 2019, or from installing hydroelectric generation in pipes, culverts, irrigation canals, and other man-made waterways, as long as those changes do not create conflicts with existing state or federal fish recovery plans and comply with all local, state, and federal laws and regulations.
f. Nonemitting electric generation used to meet the standard under (a) of this subsection must be generated during the compliance period and must be verified by documentation that the electric utility owns the nonpower attributes of the electricity generated by the nonemitting electric generation resource.
g. Nothing in this section prohibits an electric utility from purchasing or exchanging power from the Bonneville power administration.
Investments in energy transformation projects used to satisfy an alternative compliance option provided under subsection (1)(b) of this section must use criteria developed by the department of ecology, in consultation with the department and the commission. For the purpose of crediting an energy transformation project toward the standard in subsection (1)(a) of this section, the department of ecology must establish a conversion factor of emissions reductions resulting from energy transformation projects to megawatt-hours of electricity from nonemitting electric generation that is consistent with the emission factors for unspecified electricity, or for energy transformation projects in the transportation sector, consistent with default emissions or conversion factors established by other jurisdictions for clean alternative fuels. Emissions reductions from energy transformation projects must be:
Real, specific, identifiable, and quantifiable;
Permanent: The department of ecology must look to other jurisdictions in setting this standard and make a reasonable determination on length of time;
Enforceable by the state of Washington;
Verifiable;
Not required by another statute, rule, or other legal requirement; and
Not reasonably assumed to occur absent investment, or if an investment has already been made, not reasonably assumed to occur absent additional funding in the near future.
Energy transformation projects or advanced nuclear reactor projects must be associated with the consumption of energy in Washington and must not create a new use of fossil fuels that results in a net increase of fossil fuel usage.
The compliance eligibility of energy transformation projects may be scaled or prorated by an approved protocol in order to distinguish effects related to reductions in electricity usage from reductions in fossil fuel usage.
Any compliance obligation fulfilled through an investment in an energy transformation project or advanced nuclear reactor project is eligible for use only: (a) By the electric utility that makes the investment; (b) if the investment is made by the Bonneville power administration, by electric utilities that are preference customers of the Bonneville power administration; or (c) if the investment is made by a joint operating agency organized under chapter 43.52 RCW, by a utility participating in the project investment. An electric utility making an investment in partnership with another electric utility or entity may claim credit proportional to its share invested in the total project cost.
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In meeting the standard under subsection (1) of this section, an electric utility must, consistent with the requirements of RCW 19.285.040, if applicable, pursue all cost-effective, reliable, and feasible conservation and efficiency resources, and demand response. In making new investments, an electric utility must, to the maximum extent feasible:
Achieve targets at the lowest reasonable cost, considering risk;
Consider acquisition of existing renewable resources; and
In the acquisition of new resources constructed after May 7, 2019, rely on renewable resources , energy storage, and nuclear energy resources insofar as doing so is consistent with (a)(i) of this subsection.
Electric utilities subject to RCW 19.285.040 must demonstrate pursuit of all conservation and efficiency resources through compliance with the requirements in RCW 19.285.040.
An electric utility that fails to meet the requirements of this section must pay the administrative penalty established under RCW 19.405.090(1), except as otherwise provided in this chapter.
In complying with this section, an electric utility must, consistent with the requirements of RCW 19.280.030 and 19.405.140, ensure that all customers are benefiting from the transition to clean energy: Through the equitable distribution of energy and nonenergy benefits and reduction of burdens to vulnerable populations and highly impacted communities; long-term and short-term public health and environmental benefits and reduction of costs and risks; and energy security and resiliency.
Affected market customers must comply with the standard established under subsection (1) of this section.
A market customer that purchases electricity exclusively from carbon-free resources and eligible renewable resources, as defined in RCW 19.285.030 as of January 1, 2019, pursuant to a special contract with an investor-owned utility approved, prior to May 7, 2019, by order of the commission is subject to the requirements of such an order and not to the standard established in this section. For purposes of interpreting any such special contract, chapter 19.285 RCW, as in effect on January 1, 2019, is not, either directly or indirectly, amended or supplemented.
To reduce costs for utility customers or avoid exceeding the cost impact limit in RCW 19.405.060(3)(a), a multistate electric utility with fewer than two hundred fifty thousand customers in Washington may apply the total amount of megawatt-hours of coal-fired resources eliminated from the utility's allocation of electricity before December 31, 2025, as an equivalent amount of megawatt-hours of nonemitting electric generation or electricity from renewable resources required to comply with subsection (1)(a) of this section. The utility must demonstrate that for every megawatt-hour of early action compliance credit there is a real, permanent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions in the western interconnection directly associated with that credit. A multistate electric utility must request to use early action compliance credit in its clean energy implementation plan that is submitted under RCW 19.405.060. The multistate electric utility must specify in its clean energy implementation plan the compliance years to which the early action compliance credit will apply, but in no event may the multistate electric utility use the early action compliance credits beyond 2035. The commission must establish conditions for use of early action compliance credits, including a determination of whether action constitutes early action, before the multistate electric utility's use of early action compliance credits in a clean energy implementation plan.
The definitions in this section apply throughout this chapter unless the context clearly requires otherwise.
"Advanced nuclear reactor" means a nuclear fission reactor with significant improvements, including additional inherent safety features, compared to reactors operating on December 27, 2020, in the United States.
"Allocation of electricity" means, for the purposes of setting electricity rates, the costs and benefits associated with the resources used to provide electricity to an electric utility's retail electricity consumers that are located in this state.
"Alternative compliance payment" means the payment established in RCW 19.405.090(2).
"Attorney general" means the Washington state office of the attorney general.
"Auditor" means: (a) The Washington state auditor's office or its designee for utilities under its jurisdiction under this chapter that are consumer-owned utilities; or (b) an independent auditor selected by a utility that is not under the jurisdiction of the state auditor and is not an investor-owned utility.
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"Biomass energy" includes: (i) Organic by-products of pulping and the wood manufacturing process; (ii) animal manure; (iii) solid organic fuels from wood; (iv) forest or field residues; (v) untreated wooden demolition or construction debris; (vi) food waste and food processing residuals; (vii) liquors derived from algae; (viii) dedicated energy crops; and (ix) yard waste.
"Biomass energy" does not include: (i) Wood pieces that have been treated with chemical preservatives such as creosote, pentachlorophenol, or copper-chrome-arsenic; (ii) wood from old growth forests; or (iii) municipal solid waste.
"Carbon dioxide equivalent" has the same meaning as defined in RCW 70A.45.010.
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"Coal-fired resource" means a facility that uses coal-fired generating units, or that uses units fired in whole or in part by coal as feedstock, to generate electricity.
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"Coal-fired resource" does not include an electric generating facility that is included as part of a limited duration wholesale power purchase, not to exceed one month, made by an electric utility for delivery to retail electric customers that are located in this state for which the source of the power is not known at the time of entry into the transaction to procure the electricity.
"Coal-fired resource" does not include an electric generating facility that is subject to an obligation to meet the standards contained in RCW 80.80.040(3)(c).
"Commission" means the Washington utilities and transportation commission.
"Conservation and efficiency resources" means any reduction in electric power consumption that results from increases in the efficiency of energy use, production, transmission, or distribution.
"Consumer-owned utility" means a municipal electric utility formed under Title 35 RCW, a public utility district formed under Title 54 RCW, an irrigation district formed under chapter 87.03 RCW, a cooperative formed under chapter 23.86 RCW, or a mutual corporation or association formed under chapter 24.06 RCW, that is engaged in the business of distributing electricity to more than one retail electric customer in the state.
"Demand response" means changes in electric usage by demand-side resources from their normal consumption patterns in response to changes in the price of electricity, or to incentive payments designed to induce lower electricity use, at times of high wholesale market prices or when system reliability is jeopardized. "Demand response" may include measures to increase or decrease electricity production on the customer's side of the meter in response to incentive payments.
"Department" means the department of commerce.
"Distributed energy resource" means a nonemitting electric generation or renewable resource or program that reduces electric demand, manages the level or timing of electricity consumption, or provides storage, electric energy, capacity, or ancillary services to an electric utility and that is located on the distribution system, any subsystem of the distribution system, or behind the customer meter, including conservation and energy efficiency.
"Electric utility" or "utility" means a consumer-owned utility or an investor-owned utility.
"Energy assistance" means a program undertaken by a utility to reduce the household energy burden of its customers.
Energy assistance includes, but is not limited to, weatherization, conservation and efficiency services, and monetary assistance, such as a grant program or discounts for lower income households, intended to lower a household's energy burden.
Energy assistance may include direct customer ownership in distributed energy resources or other strategies if such strategies achieve a reduction in energy burden for the customer above other available conservation and demand-side measures.
"Energy assistance need" means the amount of assistance necessary to achieve a level of household energy burden established by the department or commission.
"Energy burden" means the share of annual household income used to pay annual home energy bills.
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"Energy transformation project" means a project or program that: Provides energy-related goods or services, other than the generation of electricity; results in a reduction of fossil fuel consumption and in a reduction of the emission of greenhouse gases attributable to that consumption; and provides benefits to the customers of an electric utility.
"Energy transformation project" may include but is not limited to:
Home weatherization or other energy efficiency measures, including market transformation for energy efficiency products, in excess of: The target established under RCW 19.285.040(1), if applicable; other state obligations; or other obligations in effect on May 7, 2019;
Support for electrification of the transportation sector including, but not limited to:
(A) Equipment on an electric utility's transmission and distribution system to accommodate electric vehicle connections, as well as smart grid systems that enable electronic interaction between the electric utility and charging systems, and facilitate the utilization of vehicle batteries for system needs;
(B) Incentives for the sale or purchase of electric vehicles, both battery and fuel cell powered, as authorized under state or federal law;
(C) Incentives for the installation of charging equipment for electric vehicles;
(D) Incentives for the electrification of vehicle fleets utilizing a battery or fuel cell for electric supply;
(E) Incentives to install and operate equipment to produce or distribute renewable hydrogen; and
(F) Incentives for renewable hydrogen fueling stations;
iii. Investment in distributed energy resources and grid modernization to facilitate distributed energy resources and improved grid resilience;
iv. Investments in equipment for renewable natural gas processing, conditioning, and production, or equipment or infrastructure used solely for the purpose of delivering renewable natural gas for consumption or distribution;
v. Contributions to self-directed investments in the following measures to serve the sites of large industrial gas and electrical customers: (A) Conservation; (B) new renewable resources; (C) behind-the-meter technology that facilitates demand response cooperation to reduce peak loads; (D) infrastructure to support electrification of transportation needs, including battery and fuel cell electrification; or (E) renewable natural gas processing, conditioning, or production; and
vi. Projects and programs that achieve energy efficiency and emission reductions in the agricultural sector, including bioenergy and renewable natural gas projects.
"Fossil fuel" means natural gas, petroleum, coal, or any form of solid, liquid, or gaseous fuel derived from such a material.
"Governing body" means: The council of a city or town; the commissioners of an irrigation district, municipal electric utility, or public utility district; or the board of directors of an electric cooperative or mutual association that has the authority to set and approve rates.
"Greenhouse gas" includes carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, hydrofluorocarbons, perfluorocarbons, sulfur hexafluoride, and any other gas or gases designated by the department of ecology by rule under RCW 70A.45.010.
"Highly impacted community" means a community designated by the department of health based on cumulative impact analyses in RCW 19.405.140 or a community located in census tracts that are fully or partially on "Indian country" as defined in 18 U.S.C. Sec. 1151.
"Investor-owned utility" means a company owned by investors that meets the definition of "corporation" in RCW 80.04.010 and is engaged in distributing electricity to more than one retail electric customer in the state.
"Low-income" means household incomes as defined by the department or commission, provided that the definition may not exceed the higher of eighty percent of area median household income or two hundred percent of the federal poverty level, adjusted for household size.
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"Market customer" means a nonresidential customer of an electric utility that: (i) Purchases electricity from an entity or entities other than the utility with which it is directly interconnected; or (ii) generates electricity to meet one hundred percent of its own needs.
An "affected market customer" is a customer of a utility who becomes a market customer after May 7, 2019.
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"Natural gas" means naturally occurring mixtures of hydrocarbon gases and vapors consisting principally of methane, whether in gaseous or liquid form, including methane clathrate.
"Natural gas" does not include renewable natural gas or the portion of renewable natural gas when blended into other fuels.
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"Nonemitting electric generation" means electricity from a generating facility or a resource that provides electric energy, capacity, or ancillary services to an electric utility and that does not emit greenhouse gases as a by-product of energy generation.
"Nonemitting electric generation" does not include renewable resources.
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"Nonpower attributes" means all environmentally related characteristics, exclusive of energy, capacity reliability, and other electrical power service attributes, that are associated with the generation of electricity, including but not limited to the facility's fuel type, geographic location, vintage, qualification as a renewable resource, and avoided emissions of pollutants to the air, soil, or water, and avoided emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases.
"Nonpower attributes" does not include any aspects, claims, characteristics, and benefits associated with the on-site capture and destruction of methane or other greenhouse gases at a facility through a digester system, landfill gas collection system, or other mechanism, which may be separately marketable as greenhouse gas emission reduction credits, offsets, or similar tradable commodities. However, these separate avoided emissions may not result in or otherwise have the effect of attributing greenhouse gas emissions to the electricity.
"Qualified transmission line" means an overhead transmission line that is: (a) Designed to carry a voltage in excess of one hundred thousand volts; (b) owned in whole or in part by an investor-owned utility; and (c) primarily or exclusively used by such an investor-owned utility as of May 7, 2019, to transmit electricity generated by a coal-fired resource.
"Renewable energy credit" means a tradable certificate of proof of one megawatt-hour of a renewable resource. The certificate includes all of the nonpower attributes associated with that one megawatt-hour of electricity and the certificate is verified by a renewable energy credit tracking system selected by the department.
"Renewable hydrogen" means hydrogen produced using renewable resources both as the source for the hydrogen and the source for the energy input into the production process.
"Renewable natural gas" means a gas consisting largely of methane and other hydrocarbons derived from the decomposition of organic material in landfills, wastewater treatment facilities, and anaerobic digesters.
"Renewable resource" means: (a) Water; (b) wind; (c) solar energy; (d) geothermal energy; (e) renewable natural gas; (f) renewable hydrogen; (g) wave, ocean, or tidal power; (h) biodiesel fuel that is not derived from crops raised on land cleared from old growth or first growth forests; or (i) biomass energy.
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"Retail electric customer" means a person or entity that purchases electricity from any electric utility for ultimate consumption and not for resale.
"Retail electric customer" does not include, in the case of any electric utility, any person or entity that purchases electricity exclusively from carbon-free and eligible renewable resources, as defined in RCW 19.285.030 as of January 1, 2019, pursuant to a special contract with an investor-owned utility approved by an order of the commission prior to May 7, 2019.
"Retail electric load" means the amount of megawatt-hours of electricity delivered in a given calendar year by an electric utility to its Washington retail electric customers. "Retail electric load" does not include:
Megawatt-hours delivered from qualifying facilities under the federal public utility regulatory policies act of 1978, P.L. 95-617, in operation prior to May 7, 2019, provided that no entity other than the electric utility can make a claim on delivery of the megawatt-hours from those resources; or
Megawatt-hours delivered to an electric utility's system from a renewable resource through a voluntary renewable energy purchase by a retail electric customer of the utility in which the renewable energy credits associated with the megawatt-hours delivered are retired on behalf of the retail electric customer.
"Thermal renewable energy credit" means, with respect to a facility that generates electricity using biomass energy that also generates thermal energy for a secondary purpose, a renewable energy credit that is equivalent to three million four hundred twelve thousand British thermal units of energy used for such secondary purpose.
"Unbundled renewable energy credit" means a renewable energy credit that is sold, delivered, or purchased separately from electricity. All thermal renewable energy credits are considered unbundled renewable energy credits.
"Unspecified electricity" means an electricity source for which the fuel attribute is unknown or has been separated from the energy delivered to retail electric customers.
"Vulnerable populations" means communities that experience a disproportionate cumulative risk from environmental burdens due to:
Adverse socioeconomic factors, including unemployment, high housing and transportation costs relative to income, access to food and health care, and linguistic isolation; and
Sensitivity factors, such as low birth weight and higher rates of hospitalization.
It is the intent of this chapter that the commission and department adopt rules to streamline the implementation of chapter 288, Laws of 2019 with chapter 19.285 RCW to simplify compliance and avoid duplicative processes. It is the intent of the legislature that the commission and the department coordinate in developing rules related to process, timelines, and documentation that are necessary for the implementation of this chapter.
The commission may adopt rules to ensure the proper implementation and enforcement of this chapter as it applies to investor-owned utilities.
The department may adopt rules to ensure the proper implementation and enforcement of this chapter as it applies to consumer-owned utilities. Nothing in this subsection may be construed to restrict the rate-making authority of the governing body of a consumer-owned utility as otherwise provided by law.
The department must adopt rules establishing reporting requirements for electric utilities to demonstrate compliance with this chapter. The requirements must, to the extent practicable, be consistent with the disclosures required under chapter 19.29A RCW.
An investor-owned utility must also report all information required in subsection (4) of this section to the commission.
An electric utility must also make reports required in this section available to its retail electric customers.
The department of ecology must adopt rules, in consultation with the commission and the department of commerce, to establish requirements for energy transformation project investments including, but not limited to, verification procedures, reporting standards, and other logistical issues as necessary.
The department must adopt rules providing for the measuring and tracking of thermal renewable energy credits that may be used for compliance under RCW 19.405.040.
Pursuant to the administrative procedure act, chapter 34.05 RCW, rules needed for the implementation of this chapter must be adopted by January 1, 2021, unless specified otherwise elsewhere in this chapter. These rules may be revised as needed to carry out the intent and purposes of this chapter.
The department must adopt rules to verify how a project may qualify as an advanced nuclear reactor project and to set the method for determining how investments in advanced nuclear reactor projects are measured for compliance with RCW 19.405.040(1)(b).