BILL REQ. #: H-1004.1
State of Washington | 63rd Legislature | 2013 Regular Session |
Read first time 02/04/13. Referred to Committee on Environment.
AN ACT Relating to energy conservation under the energy independence act; and amending RCW 19.285.060.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
Sec. 1 RCW 19.285.060 and 2007 c 1 s 6 are each amended to read
as follows:
(1) Except as provided in subsection (2) of this section, a
qualifying utility that fails to comply with the energy conservation or
renewable energy targets established in RCW 19.285.040 shall pay an
administrative penalty to the state of Washington in the amount of
fifty dollars for each megawatt-hour of shortfall. Beginning in 2007,
this penalty shall be adjusted annually according to the rate of change
of the inflation indicator, gross domestic product-implicit price
deflator, as published by the bureau of economic analysis of the United
States department of commerce or its successor.
(2)(a) A qualifying utility that does not meet an annual renewable
energy target established in RCW 19.285.040(2) is exempt from the
administrative penalty in subsection (1) of this section for that year
if the commission for investor-owned utilities or the auditor for all
other qualifying utilities determines that the utility complied with
RCW 19.285.040(2) (d) or (i) or 19.285.050(1).
(b) If a qualifying utility does not meet its biennial energy
conservation acquisition target as required in RCW 19.285.040(1) and is
subject to administrative penalties under subsection (1) of this
section, the commission, for a qualifying utility that is an investor-owned utility, or the attorney general, for a qualifying utility that
is not an investor-owned utility, shall reduce the penalty by the
adjusted amount as provided in subsection (1) of this section for each
megawatt-hour in excess of its conservation target from the previous
completed biennium.
(3) A qualifying utility must notify its retail electric customers
in published form within three months of incurring a penalty regarding
the size of the penalty and the reason it was incurred.
(4) The commission shall determine if an investor-owned utility may
recover the cost of this administrative penalty in electric rates, and
may consider providing positive incentives for an investor-owned
utility to exceed the targets established in RCW 19.285.040.
(5) Administrative penalties collected under this chapter shall be
deposited into the energy independence act special account which is
hereby created. All receipts from administrative penalties collected
under this chapter must be deposited into the account. Expenditures
from the account may be used only for the purchase of renewable energy
credits or for energy conservation projects at public facilities, local
government facilities, community colleges, or state universities. The
state shall own and retire any renewable energy credits purchased using
moneys from the account. Only the director of ((general
administration)) enterprise services or the director's designee may
authorize expenditures from the account. The account is subject to
allotment procedures under chapter 43.88 RCW, but an appropriation is
not required for expenditures.
(6) For a qualifying utility that is an investor-owned utility, the
commission shall determine compliance with the provisions of this
chapter and assess penalties for noncompliance as provided in
subsection (1) of this section.
(7) For qualifying utilities that are not investor-owned utilities,
the auditor is responsible for auditing compliance with this chapter
and rules adopted under this chapter that apply to those utilities and
the attorney general is responsible for enforcing that compliance.