1010-S AMH CROU DYLA 038

SHB 1010 - H AMD

By Representative Crouse

   Strike everything after the enacting clause in the substitute bill and insert the following:

   "NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. It is the intent of the legislature to establish a goal of encouraging the construction and development of renewable energy in the state of Washington to meet increasing demand for affordable and reliable electricity. The legislature finds that it is desirable to shorten the time it takes to bring new electricity generation to market. The legislature recognizes that water is a renewable resource and is an abundant and reliable source of power with potential for growth. The legislature also recognizes that Washington is a leader in the development of renewable energy technologies and the legislature acknowledges that encouraging the development of renewable technologies in meeting increased electricity demand will create jobs for Washington's citizens. The legislature intends that information obtained from integrated resource planning under this chapter will be used to assist in identifying and developing renewable energy to meet electricity demand.

   NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. The definitions in this section apply throughout this chapter unless the context clearly requires otherwise.

     (1) "Commission" means the Washington state utilities and transportation commission.

     (2) "Consumer-owned utility" includes 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, a mutual corporation or association formed under chapter 24.06 RCW, a port district formed under Title 53 RCW, or a water-sewer district formed under Title 57 RCW, that is engaged in the business of distributing electricity to one or more retail electric customers in the state.

     (3) "Department" means the department of community, trade, and economic development.

   (4) "Electric utility" means a consumer-owned or investor-owned utility.

   (5) "Full requirements customer" means an electric utility that relies on the Bonneville power administration for all power needed to supply its total load requirement other than that served by nondispatchable generating resources totaling no more than six megawatts.

   (6) "Governing body" means the board of directors, city council, commissioners, or board of any consumer-owned utility.

   (7) "Integrated resource plan" or "plan" means a plan describing the mix of generating resources and improvements in the efficient generation, transmission, distribution, and use of electricity that will meet current and future needs at the lowest reasonable cost to the utility and its ratepayers.

   (8) "Investor-owned utility" means a corporation owned by investors that meets the definition in RCW 80.04.010 and is engaged in distributing electricity to more than one retail electric customer in the state.

   (9) "Renewable resources" means electricity generation facilities fueled by: (a) Water; (b) wind; (c) solar energy; (d) geothermal energy; (e) landfill gas; (f) biomass energy based on animal waste, solid organic fuels from wood, forest, or field residues, dedicated energy crops that do not include wood pieces that have been treated with chemical preservatives such as creosote, pentachlorophenal or copper chrome arsenic, or byproducts of the pulping process and wood manufacturing process, including bark, wood chips, sawdust, and lignin in spent pulping liquors; (g) wave or tidal power; or (h) gas from sewage treatment facilities.

   NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. (1) Every electric utility, except a full requirements customer, must develop an integrated resource plan consistent with the provisions of this section. Such a plan, at a minimum, must include:

   (a) A range of forecasts of future customer demand which take into account econometric data, customer usage, and changes in technology;

   (b) An assessment of technically feasible improvements in the efficient generation, transmission, distribution, and use of electricity, including load management and fuel switching, as well as currently employed and new policies and programs needed to obtain the efficiency improvements;

   (c) An assessment of technically feasible generating technologies including but not limited to renewable resources, cogeneration, power purchases, and thermal resources;

   (d) An evaluation comparing the cost-effectiveness and availability of generating resources with the cost-effectiveness of improvements in the efficient use of electricity;

   (e) The integration of the demand forecasts and resource evaluations into a long-range plan describing the mix of resources and efficiency measures that will meet current and future needs at the least cost to the utility and its ratepayers. The resource evaluations conducted under this section may include an identification of all direct costs of a project or resource and identification of economic or financial risks and risk associated with fuel price, fuel availability, hedging, and future environmental regulations, to the utility and its ratepayers;

   (f) A short-term plan identifying the specific actions to be taken by the utility consistent with the long-range integrated resource plan; and

    (g) For all plans prepared subsequent to the initial integrated resource plan, a progress report that relates the new plan to the previous plan.

   (2) An electric utility that is required to develop an integrated resource plan under this section must complete its initial integrated resource plan by December 31, 2006.

   (3) Integrated resource plans developed under this section must be updated on a regular basis, including, at minimum, in 2008, 2014, and 2020. The commission may adopt rules regarding updates to the integrated resource plans of investor-owned utilities.

   NEW SECTION. Sec. 4. (1) Before a full requirements customer acquires any generation resource that would disqualify it as a full requirements customer, as determined by the Bonneville power administration, the full requirements customer must develop an initial integrated resource plan consistent with the provisions of this section. Such a plan, at a minimum, must include:

   (a) An identification of technically feasible generating technologies, including but not limited to renewable resources, cogeneration, power purchases, and thermal resources, that will meet its current and future needs at the least cost to the utility and its ratepayers;

   (b) The integration of demand forecasts and resource evaluations into a long-range plan describing the mix of resources and efficiency measures that will meet current and future needs at the lowest cost to the utility and its ratepayers; and

   (c) A short-term plan identifying the specific actions to be taken by the utility consistent with its initial integrated resource plan. The resource evaluations conducted under this section may include an identification of all direct costs of a project or resource and identification of economic or financial risks and risk associated with fuel price, fuel availability, hedging, and future environmental regulations, to the utility and its ratepayers.

     (2) A consumer-owned utility that develops a plan pursuant to this section shall prepare a progress report every two years that describes how the utility's actions compare to the initial plan. This progress report must include a forecast of the utility's load growth over twenty years.

   NEW SECTION. Sec. 5. (1) Investor-owned utilities shall submit integrated resource plans to the commission. The commission shall establish by rule the requirements for preparation and submission of integrated resource plans.

     (2) The commission may adopt additional rules as necessary to clarify the requirements of section 3 of this act as they apply to investor-owned utilities.

   (3) Integrated resource plans developed by investor-owned utilities are a guideline only and are not to be used for ratemaking purposes. 

   NEW SECTION. Sec. 6. (1) The governing body of a consumer-owned utility that develops an integrated resource plan under this chapter shall approve the integrated resource plan only after the consumer-owned utility has provided public notice and hearing on the proposed plan. Upon approval of its governing board, each consumer-owned utility shall publish a final integrated resource plan either as part of an annual report or as a separate document available to the public.

   (2) Each consumer-owned utility required to develop an integrated resource plan shall transmit a copy of its integrated resource plan to the department by December 31, 2006, and transmit subsequent plans to the department in 2008, 2014, and 2020.

   (3) A full requirements customer that is required to develop an integrated resource plan under section 4 of this chapter shall transmit a copy of its integrated resource plan to the department within sixty days of its approval by the governing board. Progress reports developed by consumer-owned utilities pursuant to section 4 of this chapter shall be published and transmitted to the department within sixty days of its completion.

   (4) Consumer-owned utilities may develop integrated resource plans jointly with other consumer-owned utilities. Data and assessments included in joint reports must be identifiable to each individual utility.

   NEW SECTION. Sec. 7. The department shall review the integrated resource plans of consumer-owned utilities and prepare a report to the legislature assessing the utilities' conformance with this section. The report shall include a statewide summary of utility load forecasts, load/resource balance, and utility plans for the development of thermal generation, renewable resources, and efficiency resources. The commission shall provide the department with data summarizing activities of investor-owned utilities for use in the department's statewide summary. The department shall submit the initial report by December 1, 2007, and subsequent reports on December 1, 2009, December 1, 2015, and December 1, 2021. Where appropriate, the department may include reports required by this section within the biennial report required under RCW 43.21F.045.

   NEW SECTION. Sec. 8. Integrated resource plans shall not be a basis for customers to bring legal action against electric utilities.

   NEW SECTION. Sec. 9. Sections 1 through 8 of this act constitute a new chapter in Title 19 RCW."

EFFECT: (1) Revises the elements required in a full integrated

resource plan, including providing that an electric utility must describe the mix of resources that will meet current and future needs at least cost instead of lowest reasonable cost.

(2) Provides an exemption from integrated resource planning requirements for electric utilities that are full requirements customers of the Bonneville Power Association. Before a full requirements customer acquires additional resources that would disqualify it as a full requirements customer, that utility must develop a modified integrated resource plan with fewer elements than a full integrated resource plan. Consumer-owned utilities that develop modified plans under this requirement must submit the plans to the  Department of Community, Trade, and Economic Development within sixty days of approval by the governing board of the consumer-owned utility. Consumer-owned utilities that develop modified plans must also prepare and submit progress reports every two years that describe how the utility's actions compare to the initial plan and a forecast of the utility's load growth over twenty years.

(3) Provides that consumer-owned utilities must provide public notice and hearing on proposed integrated resource plans instead of publishing a work schedule for preparation of the plan.

(4) Clarifies that integrated resource plans must be developed by December 31, 2006, and updated at minimum, in 2008, 2014, and 2020 instead of in 2009, 2014, and 2019 but the commission may adopt rules regarding updates to the integrated resource plans of investor-owned utilities.

(5) Expands the definition of renewable resources to include byproducts of the pulping process and wood manufacturing process.