wa-law.org > bill > 2025-26 > SB 5821 > Original Bill
The legislature finds that:
Washington has established ambitious decarbonization policies to shape energy consumption in the state, including:
Economy-wide greenhouse gas emission limits that reach 95 percent below 1990 levels by 2050, per chapter 70A.45 RCW; and
Specific requirements that electricity sales to retail electric customers be entirely from renewable or nonemitting sources, beginning in 2045, per chapter 19.405 RCW;
Overall in-state energy demand is expected to grow in coming years. Rapidly occurring advances in computing, data storage, and artificial intelligence, increases in electrification among transportation and the built environment, decarbonization public policies including the Washington clean energy transformation act, pressure on existing energy sources, and more are expected to contribute substantially to growing energy demand and necessitate the build-out of new sources of reliable, stable, and affordable clean power;
Washington's most recent electric utility fuel mix disclosure report indicates that approximately 19 percent of electricity currently supplied to Washington customers is generated from emitting resources that must be supplanted to achieve the clean energy transformation act's requirement that retail electricity be greenhouse gas neutral by 2030 and entirely nonemitting by 2045. Advanced nuclear power technologies offer a particularly efficient pathway to replace these emitting resources because nuclear generation operates at a significantly higher capacity factor than wind or solar resources, thereby producing substantially more clean, firm energy per unit of installed capacity. As a result, the addition of advanced fission nuclear power can reduce the total number of new generating facilities, transmission interconnections, and land area otherwise required to meet Washington's decarbonization goals, which will speed siting, while also providing stable, dispatchable output necessary to ensure system reliability during periods of peak winter energy demand, prolonged low-wind conditions, or reduced sunlight. Integrating advanced nuclear power into Washington's energy portfolio can therefore help the state to achieve its decarbonization goals more rapidly, at lower systemwide cost, and with greater long-term reliability than would be feasible if the state were to rely solely on additional variable renewable resources to replace the emitting generation identified in the 2023 fuel mix report;
Under current federal and state policy and tax incentive structures, fission nuclear power technologies are increasingly likely to be economically viable and technically and operationally feasible options to build to meet the growing energy demand and the state's required transition to cleaner energy. The feasibility of adding new fission nuclear power sources into the state's clean energy portfolio is furthered substantially by recent advancements in nuclear power technologies, including the maturation of small modular reactor proposals, new reactor design innovations, and spent fuel solutions;
Washington has a robust infrastructure of support for advanced nuclear systems including, but not limited to, a highly talented workforce in the Tri-Cities region, waste disposal policies and programs, academic and research systems, interconnection, public and private utility knowledge, and more;
The current state energy strategy, which was last updated in 2020, relies on a number of assumptions that already appear outdated and unlikely to transpire as envisioned. These outdated assumptions include forecasts that large volumes of wind and solar generation in Wyoming and Montana would be developed in coming years, and that sufficient new long distance transmission would be built to accommodate the import of large volumes of electricity from other states into Washington. By contrast, the 2021 state energy strategy did not analyze certain, increasingly likely scenarios that would increase the viability of the build-out of new nuclear generation capacity. The 2024 state biennial energy report, released in 2025, supports expanding technologies that are not currently financially feasible without additional development.
Therefore, in light of the urgency of the need for new power sources to ensure a transition to clean energy and to power the economy of the future, the department of commerce is directed to seek nonstate funds to develop a nuclear power strategic framework to assess strategies, benefits, and costs, including recommendations for implementation, for ways that advanced nuclear deployment may add incremental value to the state energy strategy in pursuit of its policy and market goals.
Contingent upon the receipt of funds consistent with subsection (5) of this section, the department must supplement the state energy strategy by developing and publishing a nuclear power strategic framework by December 15, 2026. The nuclear power strategic framework must:
Identify state objectives for the development of new fission nuclear power generation, and key actions for specific government entities, joint operating agencies, utilities, and other stakeholders to ensure the inclusion of nuclear generation technologies in the achievement and implementation of the state objectives;
Outline the processes, including financing, siting, permitting, any appropriate tribal consultation, workforce issues, and regulatory processes, anticipated to be navigated prior to new fission nuclear power sources being constructed and generating power in Washington;
Assess both challenges and opportunities for the achievement of new fission nuclear power generation objectives;
Consider how the state can facilitate new fission nuclear generation through strategic partnerships with nearby states, including by potentially reducing costs through economies of scale achieved via coordinated multistate actions;
Include policy recommendations to support the implementation of the framework, including consideration of regulatory reforms, tax and financial supports, and education and workforce programs. In making policy recommendations under this subsection, the department must specifically consider, at a minimum:
Whether expediting or curtailing state siting and permitting requirements could avoid redundancy with federal regulations and better reflect the urgency of the goals of chapters 70A.45 and 19.405 RCW;
Whether and how, through state policies, to provide preference for, or expedited review of, the siting, construction, or operation of new fission nuclear generation at sites:
(A) Previously proposed and evaluated for nuclear projects, including within the geographic footprint of the Hanford site managed by the United States department of energy; and
(B) Previously used for coal or natural gas fired electrical generation;
iii. In light of the broad potential public benefits of bringing new, clean sources of power to commercial fruition, mechanisms to ensure that the financial risks of projects are appropriately mitigated and do not present a prohibitive barrier to siting and building new fission nuclear power sources;
iv. Avoiding or mitigating the land use impact of the state pursuing similar quantities of clean energy reliability and capacity through nonnuclear generating resources; and
f. Identify the anticipated impacts of the successful development of new fission nuclear generation capacity in the state on:
i. Overall economic well-being;
ii. Workforce development, including in industries served by the expanded in-state electric generation capacity; and
iii. The satisfaction of goals for the electric sector, such as reliability and affordability.
The department must solicit guidance from members of the energy strategy advisory committee convened for purposes of the state energy strategy due December 2020 under RCW 43.21F.090 in developing the nuclear power strategic framework under this section.
The department must provide opportunities for public input on the draft nuclear power strategic framework prior to finalizing it including, but not limited to, making a draft of the framework available for comment.
The department must integrate the nuclear power strategic framework developed under this section into the next review and update of the state energy strategy.
Consistent with the department's authority under RCW 43.330.040(2)(c), the department must seek gifts, grants, and other contributions from nonstate sources to carry out the purposes and provisions of this section. The requirement that the department proceed with the nuclear power strategic framework takes effect only upon the department's receipt of gifts, grants, or other contributions in an amount sufficient to cover the department's costs under this section, including all associated administrative costs or costs to contract for work in support of the requirements of this section.