BILL REQ. #:  H-4517.1 

Read first time 01/25/2006.   Referred to Committee on Technology, Energy & Communications.

     AN ACT Relating to assessing the viability of a solar electric generating facility; creating new sections; and declaring an emergency.

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

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1   (1) The northwest solar center, a program of Washington State University's energy extension service, shall conduct a feasibility assessment of the economic and technical viability of building a large-scale, public-demonstration, solar electric generating facility.
     (2) The assessment should include the facility's economic viability, costs and benefits to Washington state, including job creation and environmental impacts, and its impact on the regional energy. The center's assessment should also include an analysis of the impact of this energy choice as compared to other energy generation options.
     (3) In conducting this assessment, the center shall make the following assumptions about the facility:
     (a) It will have a minimum capacity in the range of three hundred megawatts;
     (b) It will be constructed through a design-build contract that requires the recipient to locate a solar thin film manufacturing facility in Washington state;
     (c) It will be developed by a public joint operating agency;
     (d) It will be sited in a county with an existing large solar electric generating facility;
     (e) It will provide maximum production and deliver the power during irrigation and air conditioning peaks;
     (f) The construction of it will drive the market and result in significant cost reductions;
     (g) The state will offer incentives to reduce the costs of bonding the project, such as state loan guarantees; and
     (h) It will be expected to recover the cost of investment over the life of the project.
     (4) In conducting this assessment, the center must assemble and work with a team of representatives from the department of community, trade, and economic development, the Washington state public utility district association, the Washington rural electric cooperative association, the Bonneville power administration, the northwest power and conservation council, the solar industry, local manufacturers, national laboratories, the United States department of energy's thin films program, and other stakeholders as determined essential by the center.
     (5) The assessment must be completed and a report summarizing the findings prepared and delivered to the energy and fiscal committees of the legislature by December 15, 2006.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 2   If specific funding for the purposes of this act, referencing this act by bill or chapter number, is not provided by June 30, 2006, in the omnibus appropriations act, this act is null and void.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 3   This act is necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, or safety, or support of the state government and its existing public institutions, and takes effect immediately.