wa-law.org > bill > 2025-26 > SB 6121 > Original Bill
The legislature finds that the rapid growth of large energy-consuming customers, including data centers, may necessitate substantial investment in new electrical generation, transmission, and distribution infrastructure. The intent of this act is to ensure that the costs and risks of these energy-related investments are borne solely by the customers causing the need for the investment, thereby protecting residential, small commercial, and existing industrial ratepayers from unwarranted rate increases.
The definitions in this section apply throughout this chapter unless the context clearly requires otherwise.
"Biomass generation" has the same meaning as "biomass energy" defined in RCW 19.285.030.
"Bonneville power administration system mix" means a generation mix sold by the Bonneville power administration that is net of any resource specific sales.
"Commission" means the utilities and transportation commission.
"Conservation" means an increase in efficiency in the use of energy use that yields a decrease in energy consumption while providing the same or higher levels of service. Conservation includes low-income weatherization programs.
"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.
"Costs of serving" includes, as applicable, the costs incurred by an electric utility in providing transmission, distribution, energy, capacity, or ancillary electricity services, and any related costs or associated risks with serving a class of retail electricity consumers or a retail electricity consumer.
"Declared resource" means an electricity source specifically identified by a retail supplier to serve retail electric customers. A declared resource includes a stated quantity of electricity tied directly to a specified generation facility or set of facilities either through ownership or contract purchase, or a contractual right to a stated quantity of electricity from a specified generation facility or set of facilities.
"Department" means the department of commerce.
"Electric meters in service" means those meters that record in at least nine of twelve calendar months in any calendar year not less than two hundred fifty kilowatt-hours per month.
"Electric utility" means a consumer-owned or investor-owned utility as defined in this section.
"Electricity" means electric energy measured in kilowatt-hours, or electric capacity measured in kilowatts, or both.
"Electricity product" means the electrical energy produced by a generating facility or facilities that a retail supplier sells or offers to sell to retail electric customers in the state of Washington, provided that nothing in this title shall be construed to mean that electricity is a good or product for the purposes of Title 62A RCW, or any other purpose. It does not include electrical energy generated on-site at a retail electric customer's premises.
"Electricity product content label" means information presented in a uniform format by a retail supplier to its retail customers and disclosing the information required in RCW 19.29A.060 about the characteristics of an electricity product.
"Facility" means any physical property, plant, building, structure, source, or stationary equipment located on one or more contiguous or adjacent properties in actual physical contact or separated solely by a public roadway or other public right-of-way and under common ownership or common control.
"Fuel attribute" means the characteristic of electricity determined by the fuel used in the generation of that electricity. For a renewable resource, the fuel attribute is included in its nonpower attributes.
"Fuel mix" means the sources of electricity sold to retail electric customers, expressed in terms of percentage contribution by resource category. The total fuel mix included in each disclosure shall total one hundred percent.
"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.
"Investor-owned utility" means a company owned by investors that meets the definition of RCW 80.04.010 and is engaged in distributing electricity to one or more retail electric customers in the state.
"Large energy use facility" means a facility that uses or is able to use 20 megawatts or more.
"Nonpower attributes" has the same meaning as defined in RCW 19.285.030.
"Private customer information" includes a retail electric customer's name, address, telephone number, and other personally identifying information.
"Proprietary customer information" means: (a) Information that relates to the source, technical configuration, destination, and amount of electricity used by a retail electric customer, a retail electric customer's payment history, and household data that is made available by the customer solely by virtue of the utility-customer relationship; and (b) information contained in a retail electric customer's bill.
"Renewable energy certificate" means a tradable certificate of proof of one megawatt-hour of electricity from 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 certificate tracking system specified by the department.
"Renewable resource" has the same meaning as defined in RCW 19.285.030.
"Resale" means the purchase and subsequent sale of electricity for profit, but does not include the purchase and the subsequent sale of electricity at the same rate at which the electricity was purchased.
"Retail electric customer" means a person or entity that purchases electricity for ultimate consumption and not for resale.
"Retail supplier" means an electric utility that offers an electricity product for sale to retail electric customers in the state.
"Small utility" means any consumer-owned utility with twenty-five thousand or fewer electric meters in service, or that has an average of seven or fewer customers per mile of distribution line.
"Source and disposition report" means the report required in RCW 19.29A.140.
"State" means the state of Washington.
"Unspecified source" means an electricity source for which the fuel attribute is unknown or has been separated from the energy.
The commission for investor-owned utilities and the department for consumer-owned utilities shall each develop a model tariff for retail electricity consumers that are large energy use facilities by June 30, 2027. The model tariff must be separate and distinct from tariffs for other commercial or industrial retail electricity consumers and have its own tariff schedule. Any model tariff schedule developed for large energy use facilities by the commission for investor-owned utilities or the department for consumer-owned utilities must:
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Allocate the costs of serving retail electricity consumers that are large energy use facilities in a manner that is equal or proportional to the costs of serving these consumers; or
Directly assign the costs of serving a retail electricity consumer that is a large energy use facility to the retail electricity consumer;
Meet the same public interest conditions that the commission or a governing body requires for a contract under section 4(1)(b)(v) of this act; and
Mitigate the risk of:
Other classes of retail electricity consumers paying increased or unwarranted costs; and
Shifting the costs, in an unwarranted manner, of serving a retail electricity consumer that is a large energy use facility to other classes of retail electricity consumers, including costs of an electric utility to meet load requirements resulting from the provision of electricity service to a retail electricity consumer that is a large energy use facility.
In deciding whether to approve a proposed tariff schedule of an investor-owned utility for a retail electricity consumer that is a large energy use facility, the commission shall consider whether the rates:
Result in, or have the potential to result in, increased costs or unwarranted risk to other retail electricity consumers;
Provide for equitable contributions to grid efficiency, reliability, and resiliency benefits;
Impede the investor-owned utility's ability to meet the clean energy transformation act requirements under chapter 19.405 RCW or reduce the emissions of greenhouse gases consistent with state policy;
Allow for procurement of or contracts for generation resources that support the investor-owned utility's ability to meet the clean energy transformation act requirements under chapter 19.405 RCW or reduce the emissions of greenhouse gases consistent with state policy; and
Meet any other conditions the commission may require in the public interest.
In deciding whether to approve a proposed tariff schedule of a consumer-owned utility for a retail electricity consumer that is a large energy use facility, the governing body shall consider whether the rates:
Result in, or have the potential to result in, increased costs or unwarranted risk to other retail electricity consumers;
Provide for equitable contributions to grid efficiency, reliability, and resiliency benefits;
Impede the consumer-owned utility's ability to meet the clean energy transformation act requirements under chapter 19.405 RCW or reduce the emissions of greenhouse gases consistent with state policy;
Allow for procurement of or contracts for generation resources that support the consumer-owned utility's ability to meet the clean energy transformation act requirements under chapter 19.405 RCW or reduce the emissions of greenhouse gases consistent with state policy; and
Meet any other conditions the governing body may require in the public interest.
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With the exception of subsection (2) of this section, beginning January 1, 2028, the commission for an investor-owned utility or a governing body of a consumer-owned utility shall require an electric utility that is providing electricity service to a retail electricity consumer that is a large energy use facility to enter into a contract with the retail electricity consumer that covers the provision of the electricity service, including, as applicable, transmission, distribution, energy, capacity, or ancillary electricity services.
Any contract for the provision of electricity service entered into between an electric utility and a retail electricity consumer that is a large energy use facility must:
Be consistent with the model tariff developed in accordance with section 3 of this act;
Specify the duration of the contract and be for a duration of 10 years or longer;
Specify the date or estimated date that the electric utility will begin to provide electricity service to the retail electricity consumer;
Obligate the retail electricity consumer to pay a minimum amount or percentage, as determined by the commission, based on the retail electricity consumer's projected electricity usage for the electricity services the electric utility is contracted to provide for the duration of the contract; and
Meet any other conditions that may be required in the public interest.
Any contract for the provision of electricity service entered into between an electric utility and a retail electricity consumer that is a large energy use facility, may include a charge for excess demand for the electricity services the electric utility is contracted to provide that is in addition to the tariff schedule.
A consumer-owned utility that has executed a contract with a large energy use facility on or before the effective date of this section is considered to be in compliance with the requirements of subsection (1) of this section as long as the contract meets the criteria under subsection (1) of this section.
Section 4 of this act applies to retail electricity consumers that are large energy use facilities that:
Enter into a contract for electricity service with an electric utility after December 31, 2027; or
Enter into a contract for electricity service with an electric utility before January 1, 2028, if the provision of electricity service requires the electric utility to make significant investments or incur costs after January 1, 2028, that could result in increased costs or risks to other retail electricity consumers of the electric utility.
By September 1st of each odd-numbered year, the department must submit a report, and may include recommendations for legislation, to the relevant committees of the legislature. The report must review trends in load requirements and other implications from retail electricity consumers that are large energy use facilities and other retail electricity consumers that use large amounts of electricity. In providing the report, the department must protect proprietary information.
This section expires January 2, 2036.