Washington State Energy Strategy. In 2019, the Legislature directed the Department of Commerce (Commerce) to revise the State Energy Strategy to align the strategy with the requirements of the Energy Independence Act, the Clean Energy Transformation Act, and the state’s greenhouse gas emissions reduction limits. The Legislature established a 27-member advisory committee to review the strategy and provide guidance to Commerce.

The State Energy Strategy must balance three goals:

•  maintaining competitive energy prices that are fair and reasonable for consumers and businesses, and support our state's continued economic success;
•  increasing competitiveness by fostering a clean energy economy and jobs through business and workforce development; and
•  meeting the state's obligations to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

 
Commerce is required to review the State Energy Strategy, last published in 2021, at least once every eight years. 

Nuclear Power Strategic Framework. Contingent on receiving specified funds, Commerce must supplement the state energy strategy by developing and publishing a nuclear power strategic framework (framework) by December 15, 2026. This requirement is contingent on Commerce receiving gifts, grants, and other contributions from nonstate resources in an amount sufficient to cover all of the costs, including administrative, of developing and publishing the framework.

The framework must:

• identify state objectives for the development of new fission nuclear power generation and key actions for specified entities to ensure the inclusion of nuclear generation technologies in the achievement and implementation of state objectives;
• outline the anticipated processes—examples include, financing, siting, permitting, tribal consultation, workforce, and regulatory—to be navigated prior to new fission nuclear power sources being constructed and generating power in Washington;
• assess challenges and opportunities for the achievement of new fission nuclear power generation objectives;
• consider how the state can facilitate new fission nuclear generation through strategic partnerships with nearby states;
• include policy recommendations to support the implementation of the framework, including:
  1. whether expediting or curtailing state siting and permitting could avoid redundancy with federal regulations and reflect the urgency of the Climate Commitment Act and Clean Energy Transformation Act goals;
  2. whether and how, through state policies, to provide a preference for or expedited review of siting, construction, or operation of new fission nuclear generation at sites previously proposed and evaluated for nuclear projects and previously used for coal or natural gas-fired electricity;
  3. mechanisms to ensure the financial risks of projects are appropriately mitigated and do not present a prohibitive barrier to siting and building new fission nuclear power sources; and
  4. avoiding or mitigating the land use impact of similar quantities of clean energy through non-nuclear generating resources; and

• identify the anticipated impacts of the successful development of new fission nuclear generation capacity on overall economic wellbeing, workforce development, and satisfaction of electric sector goals such as reliability and affordability.

 Commerce must:  

• solicit guidance from the members of the 2020 Energy Strategy Advisory Committee in developing the framework;
• provide opportunities for public input on the draft framework prior to finalizing it; and
• integrate the framework into the next review and update of the State Energy Strategy.