The definitions in this section apply throughout this chapter unless the context clearly requires otherwise.
(1) "Carbon dioxide equivalent" has the same meaning as provided in RCW
70A.65.010.
(2) "Combined heat and power" has the same meaning as provided in RCW
19.280.020.
(3) "Commission" means the utilities and transportation commission.
(4) "Conservation and efficiency resources" means any reduction in electric or natural gas consumption that results from increases in the efficiency of energy use, production, transmission, transportation, or distribution.
(5) "Cost-effective" means that a project or resource is, or is forecast to:
(a) Be reliable and available within the time it is needed; and
(b) Reduce greenhouse gas emissions and meet or reduce the energy demand or supply an equivalent level of energy service to the intended customers at an estimated long-term incremental system cost no greater than that of the least-cost similarly reliable and available alternative project or resource, or any combination thereof, including the cost of compliance with chapter
70A.65 RCW, based on the forward allowance ceiling price of allowances approved by the department of ecology under RCW
70A.65.160.
(6) "Costs of greenhouse gas emissions" means the costs of greenhouse gas emissions established in RCW
80.28.395 and
80.28.405.
(7) "Delivery system" includes any power line, pipe, equipment, apparatus, mechanism, machinery, instrument, or ancillary facility used by a large combination utility to deliver electricity or gas for ultimate consumption by a customer of the large combination utility.
(8) "Demand flexibility" means the capacity of demand-side loads to change their consumption patterns hourly or on another timescale.
(9) "Electrical company" has the same meaning as provided in RCW
80.04.010.
(10)(a) "Electrification" means the installation of energy efficient electric end-use equipment.
(b) Electrification programs may include weatherization and conservation and efficiency measures.
(11) "Electrification readiness" means upgrades or changes required before the installation of energy efficient electric end-use equipment to prevent heat loss from homes including, but not limited to: Structural repairs, such as roof repairs, preweatherization, weatherization, and electrical panel and wiring upgrades.
(12) "Emissions baseline" means the actual cumulative greenhouse gas emissions of a large combination utility, calculated pursuant to chapter
70A.65 RCW, for the five-year period beginning January 1, 2015, and ending December 31, 2019.
(13) "Emissions reduction period" means one of five periods of five calendar years each, with the five periods beginning on January 1st of calendar years 2030, 2035, 2040, 2045, and 2050, respectively.
(14) "Emissions reduction target" means a targeted reduction of projected cumulative greenhouse gas emissions of a large combination utility approved by the commission for an emissions reduction period that is at least as stringent as the limits established in RCW
70A.45.020.
(15) "Gas company" has the same meaning as provided in RCW
80.04.010.
(16) "Geographically targeted electrification" means the geographically targeted transition of a portion of gas customers of the large combination utility with an intent to electrify loads of such customers and, in conjunction, to reduce capital and operational costs of gas operations of the large combination utility serving such customers.
(17) "Greenhouse gas" has the same meaning as provided in RCW
70A.45.010.
(18) "Highly impacted community" has the same meaning as provided in RCW
19.405.020.
(19) "Integrated system plan" means a plan that the commission may approve, reject, or approve with conditions pursuant to RCW
80.86.020.
(20) "Large combination utility" means a public service company that is both an electrical company and a gas company that serves more than 800,000 retail electric customers and 500,000 retail gas customers in the state of Washington as of June 30, 2024.
(21) "Low-income" has the same meaning as provided in RCW
19.405.020.
(22) "Lowest reasonable cost" means the lowest cost mix of demand-side and supply side resources and decarbonization measures determined through a detailed and consistent analysis of a wide range of commercially available resources and measures. At a minimum, this analysis must consider long-term costs and benefits, market-volatility risks, resource uncertainties, resource dispatchability, resource effect on system operation, the risks imposed on the large combination utility and its ratepayers, public policies regarding resource preference adopted by Washington state or the federal government, the cost of risks associated with environmental effects including potential spills and emissions of carbon dioxide, and the need for security of supply.
(23) "Multiyear rate plan" means a multiyear rate plan of a large combination utility filed with the commission pursuant to RCW
80.28.425.
(24) "Natural gas" has the same meaning as provided in RCW
19.405.020.
(25) "Nonemitting electric generation" has the same meaning as provided in RCW
19.405.020.
(26) "Nonpipeline alternative" means activities or investments that delay, reduce, or avoid the need to build, upgrade, or repair gas plant, such as pipelines and service lines.
(27) "Overburdened community" has the same meaning as provided in RCW
70A.65.010.
(28) "Overgeneration event" has the same meaning as provided in RCW
19.280.020.
(29) "Renewable resource" has the same meaning as provided in RCW
19.405.020.
(30) "Supply side resource" means, as applicable: (a) Any resource that can provide capacity, electricity, or ancillary services to the large combination utility's electric delivery system; or (b) any resource that can provide conventional or nonconventional gas supplies to the large combination utility's gas delivery system.
(31) "System cost" means actual direct costs or an estimate of all direct costs of a project or resource over its effective life including, if applicable: The costs of transmission and distribution to the customers; waste disposal costs; permitting, siting, mitigation, and end-of-cycle decommissioning and remediation costs; fuel costs, including projected increases; resource integration and balancing costs; and such quantifiable environmental costs and benefits and other energy and nonenergy benefits as are directly attributable to the project or resource, including flexibility, resilience, reliability, greenhouse gas emissions reductions, and air quality.
(32) "Vulnerable populations" has the same meaning as provided in RCW
19.405.020.