AN ACT Relating to encouraging investment in and reducing the costs of transitioning to the clean energy future; creating a new section; and providing an expiration date.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

(i) The president of the senate must appoint one member from each of the two largest caucuses of the senate.

(ii) The speaker of the house of representatives must appoint one member from each of the two largest caucuses of the house of representatives.

(iii) The president of the senate and the speaker of the house of representatives jointly must appoint the following members representing relevant stakeholders:

(A) Three representatives of investor-owned utilities;

(B) Three representatives of consumer-owned utilities, one of which must represent a consumer-owned utility that owns and operates electric generation resources, one of which must represent a consumer-owned utility that does not own and operate electric generation resources, and one of which must represent a rural electric cooperative;

(C) One representative of industrial ratepayers;

(D) One representative of the Bonneville power administration;

(E) Three representatives of organizations which advocate for clean energy technologies and greenhouse gas emissions reductions; and

(F) One representative of the Northwest power and planning council.

(iv) The governor must appoint members representing the following state agencies:

(A) One representative of the Washington utilities and transportation commission; and

(B) One representative of the department of commerce.

(b) The task force must choose its cochairs from among its legislative membership. The chair of the joint committee on energy supply and energy conservation shall convene the initial meeting of the task force.

(2) The task force must review the technological feasibility, timeline, cost, and other impacts of transitioning Washington's electricity sector to one hundred percent carbon-free generation resources, including but not limited to the following issues:

(a) Technological feasibility, including an examination of resources known to be commercially available, the potential for storage, and replacement of baseload fossil fuel generation;

(b) Reliability, ratepayer costs, and regional market impacts, including impacts on multistate utilities, energy imbalance markets, the potential for negative pricing, and impacts on renewable energy credit markets;

(c) The unique aspects of Washington's utilities;

(d) The effect of transportation electrification on load;

(e) The potential policy interactions between an emission reduction requirement for the electricity sector and other carbon reduction policies, such as a carbon tax;

(f) An assessment of appropriate incentives, if any, to facilitate the transition to decarbonization;

(g) Federal and state regulatory and legal considerations; and

(h) Equitable treatment among utilities.

(3) Staff support for the task force must be provided by the senate committee services and the house of representatives office of program research.

(4) Legislative members of the task force are reimbursed for travel expenses in accordance with RCW 44.04.120. Nonlegislative members are not entitled to be reimbursed for travel expenses if they are elected officials or are participating on behalf of an employer, governmental entity, or other organization. Any reimbursement for other nonlegislative members is subject to chapter 43.03 RCW.

(5) The expenses of the task force must be paid jointly by the senate and the house of representatives. Task force expenditures are subject to approval by the senate facilities and operations committee and the house of representatives executive rules committee, or their successor committees.

(6) The task force must convene at least four meetings in 2018.

(7) The task force must report its findings and recommendations to the governor and the appropriate committees of the legislature, in compliance with RCW 43.01.036, by January 1, 2019.

(8) This section expires January 1, 2019.

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