BILL REQ. #:  S-4236.1 

Read first time 01/31/12.   Referred to Committee on Energy, Natural Resources & Marine Waters.

     AN ACT Relating to clarifying the definition of qualifying utility in the energy independence act; amending RCW 19.285.030; and adding a new section to chapter 19.285 RCW.

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

Sec. 1   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 freshwater 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.
     (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)(a) "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.
     (b) "Qualifying utility" does not include an electric utility that has an average of five or fewer retail electric customers per mile of distribution line, as determined under section 2 of this act, and that maintains an agreement under chapter 54.48 RCW with any qualifying utility with which the electric utility has an adjoining service area.
     (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 freshwater, 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.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 2   A new section is added to chapter 19.285 RCW to read as follows:
     (1) By January 1, 2013, and every five years thereafter, the state auditor's office shall: (a) Verify the number of distribution line miles owned by an electric utility for the purposes of establishing that the utility meets or does not meet the criteria for being a qualifying utility; (b) refer to the latest data reported by the utility in form 861, "annual electric utility report," filed with the energy information administration, United States department of energy, to confirm the utility's number of customers; and (c) perform a calculation to determine the utility's number of customers per mile of distribution line.
     (2) An electric utility that is not a qualifying utility is deemed as a matter of law to be a qualifying utility if at any time after the effective date of this section the utility acquires service territory or extends electric service to any customer of a qualifying utility without the consent of the qualifying utility.
     (3)(a) If an electric utility is found by the state auditor under subsection (1) of this section to have more than five customers per mile of distribution line, it is deemed as a matter of law to be a qualifying utility and subject to the requirements of this chapter pursuant to RCW 19.285.040(3).
     (b) An electric utility that is deemed to be a qualifying utility pursuant to subsection (2) of this subsection is subject to the requirements of this chapter pursuant to RCW 19.285.040(3).