BILL REQ. #: H-2674.1
State of Washington | 62nd Legislature | 2011 Regular Session |
Read first time 04/18/11. Referred to Committee on Environment.
AN ACT Relating to reducing energy costs to consumers through recognition of hydroelectric power as an eligible renewable resource; amending RCW 19.285.030; and creating a new section.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
NEW SECTION. Sec. 1 (1) The legislature finds that our current
electrical grid is absorbing more power than it can handle due to high
water flow through the dams and an increase in the amount of
alternative sources of electricity.
(2) The legislature further finds that our electric grid cannot
sustain current levels of power generation without curtailing energy
generation to maintain grid stability.
(3) The legislature further finds that hydroelectric power is the
most abundant and cheapest source of energy available in our region.
Other sources of energy, such as wind and solar, are not cost
competitive with hydroelectric power and these sources should be the
first curtailed when there is excess energy generation on the grid.
(4) The legislature further finds that the current hydroelectric
system was not built to support all of the new alternative sources of
energy generation and the region will need to build substantial new
infrastructure and transmission lines to integrate this alternative
energy into the grid. These transmission lines can take anywhere from
five to ten years to plan and construct, at significant cost to
consumers.
(5) Recognizing hydroelectric power as an eligible renewable
resource will stabilize energy prices for Washington residents, protect
clean air and water, and provide the most cost-effective sources of
energy to get Washington working again.
Sec. 2 RCW 19.285.030 and 2009 c 565 s 20 are each amended to
read as follows:
The definitions in this section apply throughout this chapter
unless the context clearly requires otherwise.
(1) "Attorney general" means the Washington state office of the
attorney general.
(2) "Auditor" means: (a) The Washington state auditor's office or
its designee for qualifying utilities under its jurisdiction that are
not investor-owned utilities; or (b) an independent auditor selected by
a qualifying utility that is not under the jurisdiction of the state
auditor and is not an investor-owned utility.
(3) "Commission" means the Washington state utilities and
transportation commission.
(4) "Conservation" means any reduction in electric power
consumption resulting from increases in the efficiency of energy use,
production, or distribution.
(5) "Cost-effective" has the same meaning as defined in RCW
80.52.030.
(6) "Council" means the Washington state apprenticeship and
training council within the department of labor and industries.
(7) "Customer" means a person or entity that purchases electricity
for ultimate consumption and not for resale.
(8) "Department" means the department of commerce or its successor.
(9) "Distributed generation" means an eligible renewable resource
where the generation facility or any integrated cluster of such
facilities has a generating capacity of not more than five megawatts.
(10) "Eligible renewable resource" means:
(a) Electricity from a generation facility powered by a renewable
resource ((other than fresh water)) that commences operation after
March 31, 1999, where: (i) The facility is located in the Pacific
Northwest; or (ii) the electricity from the facility is delivered into
Washington state on a real-time basis without shaping, storage, or
integration services; or
(b) ((Incremental electricity produced as a result of efficiency
improvements completed after March 31, 1999, to hydroelectric
generation projects owned by a qualifying utility and located in the
Pacific Northwest or to hydroelectric generation in irrigation pipes
and canals located in the Pacific Northwest, where the additional
generation in either case does not result in new water diversions or
impoundments)) Electricity from an existing generation facility powered
by a fresh water renewable resource that commenced operation before
March 31, 1999.
(11) "Investor-owned utility" has the same meaning as defined in
RCW 19.29A.010.
(12) "Load" means the amount of kilowatt-hours of electricity
delivered in the most recently completed year by a qualifying utility
to its Washington retail customers.
(13) "Nonpower attributes" means all environmentally related
characteristics, exclusive of energy, capacity reliability, and other
electrical power service attributes, that are associated with the
generation of electricity from a renewable resource, including but not
limited to the facility's fuel type, geographic location, vintage,
qualification as an eligible renewable resource, and avoided emissions
of pollutants to the air, soil, or water, and avoided emissions of
carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases.
(14) "Pacific Northwest" has the same meaning as defined for the
Bonneville power administration in section 3 of the Pacific Northwest
electric power planning and conservation act (94 Stat. 2698; 16 U.S.C.
Sec. 839a).
(15) "Public facility" has the same meaning as defined in RCW
39.35C.010.
(16) "Qualifying utility" means an electric utility, as the term
"electric utility" is defined in RCW 19.29A.010, that serves more than
twenty-five thousand customers in the state of Washington. The number
of customers served may be based on data reported by a utility in form
861, "annual electric utility report," filed with the energy
information administration, United States department of energy.
(17) "Renewable energy credit" means a tradable certificate of
proof of at least one megawatt-hour of an eligible renewable resource
((where the generation facility is not powered by fresh water)), 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 credit tracking system selected by the
department.
(18) "Renewable resource" means: (a) Water; (b) wind; (c) solar
energy; (d) geothermal energy; (e) landfill gas; (f) wave, ocean, or
tidal power; (g) gas from sewage treatment facilities; (h) biodiesel
fuel as defined in RCW 82.29A.135 that is not derived from crops raised
on land cleared from old growth or first-growth forests where the
clearing occurred after December 7, 2006; and (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 (i) wood pieces
that have been treated with chemical preservatives such as creosote,
pentachlorophenol, or copper-chrome-arsenic; (ii) black liquor by-product from paper production; (iii) wood from old growth forests; or
(iv) municipal solid waste.
(19) "Rule" means rules adopted by an agency or other entity of
Washington state government to carry out the intent and purposes of
this chapter.
(20) "Year" means the twelve-month period commencing January 1st
and ending December 31st.