BILL REQ. #:  H-3544.1 

Prefiled 12/21/2005. Read first time 01/09/2006.   Referred to Committee on Technology, Energy & Communications.

     AN ACT Relating to new renewable energy standards; and adding a new section to chapter 19.29A RCW.

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

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1   A new section is added to chapter 19.29A RCW to read as follows:
     (1) The following new renewable energy standards for state agencies are established:
     (a) By July 1, 2006, state agencies must buy at least five percent of their total electricity from qualified alternative energy resources.
     (b) By July 1, 2007, state agencies must buy at least ten percent of their total electricity from qualified alternative energy resources.
     (c) By July 1, 2008, state agencies must buy at least fifteen percent of their total electricity from qualified alternative energy resources.
     (d) By July 1, 2009, state agencies must buy at least twenty percent of their total electricity from qualified alternative energy resources.
     (2) A utility may buy qualified alternative energy resources through either: (a) Resources it owns in the state of Washington or resources the utility contracts for, if the resources contracted for are generated within the state of Washington; or (b) the buying of credits issued by a clearinghouse or other system by which the utility may secure, for trade or other consideration, verifiable evidence that a second party has a qualified alternative energy resource generated in the state of Washington and that the second party agrees to transfer such evidence exclusively to the benefit of the utility.
     (3) For the purposes of this section, a "qualified alternative energy resource" means the electricity produced from generation facilities that are fueled by: (a) Wind; (b) solar energy; (c) geothermal energy; (d) biogas produced during treatment of human or animal waste or evolved from landfills; (e) wave or tidal action; (f) gas produced during the treatment of wastewater; (g) qualified hydropower; (h) combined heat and power or cogeneration as defined in RCW 35.97.010; or (i) biomass energy based on animal waste or solid organic fuels from wood, forest, or field residues, or dedicated energy crops that do not include wood pieces that have been treated with chemical preservatives such as creosote, pentachlorophenol, or copper-chrome-arsenic.
     (4) For the purposes of this section, "qualified hydropower" means the energy produced either: (a) As a result of modernizations or upgrades made after June 1, 1998, to hydropower facilities operating on May 8, 2001, that have been demonstrated to reduce the mortality of anadromous fish; or (b) by run of the river or run of the canal hydropower facilities that are not responsible for obstructing the passage of anadromous fish.