(1) Renewable resource target. Each utility must meet the following annual targets.

(a) By January 1st of each year beginning in 2012 and continuing through 2015, each utility must use sufficient eligible renewable resources, acquire equivalent renewable energy credits, or a combination of both, to supply at least three percent of its two-year average load for the remainder of each target year.

(b) By January 1st of each year beginning in 2016 and continuing through 2019, each utility must use sufficient eligible renewable resources, acquire equivalent renewable energy credits, or a combination of both, to supply at least nine percent of its two-year average load for the remainder of each target year.

(c) By January 1st of each year beginning in 2020 and continuing each year thereafter, each utility must use sufficient eligible renewable resources, acquire equivalent renewable energy credits, or a combination of both, to supply at least fifteen percent of its two-year average load for the remainder of each target year.

(2) Credit eligibility. A qualifying utility may use renewable energy credits to meet the provisions of this section, provided the renewable energy credits meet the following requirements:

(a) A renewable energy credit from electricity generated by a resource other than freshwater may be used to meet a requirement applicable to the year in which the credit was created, the year before the year in which the credit was created, or the year after the year in which the credit was created;

(b) A renewable energy credit from electricity generated by freshwater:

(i) May only be used to meet a requirement applicable to the year in which the credit was created; and

(ii) Must be acquired by the qualifying utility through ownership of the generation facility or through a transaction that conveyed both the electricity and the nonpower attributes of the electricity.

(c) A renewable energy credit transferred to an investor-owned utility pursuant to the Bonneville Power Administration's residential exchange program may not be used by any utility other than the utility receiving the credit from the Bonneville Power Administration;

(d) Each renewable energy credit may only be used once to meet the requirements of this section and must be retired using procedures of the renewable energy credit tracking system; and

(e) For purposes of this subsection, the vintage month and vintage year of the renewable energy credit represent the date the associated unit of power was generated.

(3) WREGIS registration. All eligible renewable resources used for utility compliance with the renewable resource target must be registered in WREGIS, regardless of facility ownership. Any renewable energy credit that a utility uses for compliance must have a corresponding certificate retired in the utility's WREGIS account.

(4) Renewable energy credit multipliers. The multipliers described in this subsection do not create additional renewable energy credits. A utility may count retired certificates at:

(a) One and two-tenths times the base value where the eligible resource:

(i) Commenced operation after December 31, 2005; and

(ii) The developer of the facility used apprenticeship programs approved by the Washington state apprenticeship and training council.

(b) Two times the base value where the eligible resource was generated by distributed generation and:

(i) The utility owns the distributed generation facility or has purchased the energy output and the associated renewable energy credits; or

(ii) The utility has contracted to purchase the associated renewable energy credits.

(c) A utility that uses a multiplier described in this subsection for compliance must retire the associated certificate at the same time. A utility may not transact the multipliers described in this subsection independent of the associated base value certificate.

(5) Target calculation. In meeting the annual targets of this section, a utility must calculate its annual target based on the average of the utility's load for the previous two years.

(6) Integration services. A renewable resource within the Pacific Northwest may receive integration, shaping, storage or other services from sources outside of the Pacific Northwest and remain eligible to count towards a utility's renewable resource target.

(7) Incremental hydropower calculation.

(a) Method selection. A utility must use one of the following methods to calculate the quantity of incremental electricity produced by eligible efficiency upgrades to any hydropower facility, regardless of ownership, that is used to meet the annual targets of this section. A utility shall use the same method for calculating incremental hydropower production at all of the facilities it owns. Once the commission approves a utility's method for calculating incremental hydropower production, that utility shall not use another method unless authorized by the commission.

(b) Method one. An annual calculation performed by:

(i) Determining the river discharge for the facility in the target year;

(ii) Measuring the total amount of electricity produced by the upgraded hydropower facility during the target year;

(iii) Using a power curve-based production model to calculate how much energy the pre-upgrade facility would have generated under the same river discharge observed in the target year; and

(iv) Subtracting the model output in (b)(iii) of this subsection from the measurement in (b)(ii) of this subsection to determine the quantity of eligible renewable energy produced by the facility during the target year.

(c) Method two. An annual application of a percentage to total production performed by:

(i) Determining the river discharge for the facility over a historical period of at least five consecutive years;

(ii) Using power curve-based production models to calculate the facility's generation under the river discharge of each year in the historical period for the pre-upgrade state and the post-upgrade state;

(iii) Calculating the arithmetic mean of generation in both the pre-upgrade and post-upgrade states over the historical period;

(iv) Calculating a factor by dividing the arithmetic mean post-upgrade generation by the arithmetic mean pre-upgrade generation and subtracting one; and

(v) Multiplying the facility's observed generation in the target year by the factor calculated in (c)(iv) of this subsection to determine the share of the facility's observed generation that may be reported as eligible renewable energy.

(8) Qualified biomass energy. Beginning January 1, 2016, only a utility that owns or is directly interconnected to a qualified biomass energy facility may use qualified biomass energy to meet its annual target obligation.

(a) A utility may no longer use electricity and associated renewable energy credits from a qualified biomass energy facility if the associated industrial pulping or wood manufacturing facility ceases operation other than for purposes of maintenance or upgrade.

(b) A utility may acquire renewable energy credits from a qualified biomass energy resource hosted by an industrial facility only if the facility is directly interconnected to the utility at transmission voltage. For purposes of this subsection, transmission voltage is one hundred thousand volts or higher. The number of renewable energy credits that the utility may acquire from an industrial facility for the utility's target compliance may not be greater than the utility's renewable portfolio standard percentage times the industrial facility load.

(c) A utility that owns a qualified biomass energy facility may not transfer or sell renewable energy credits associated with qualified biomass energy to another person, entity, or utility.

(9) Use of energy output marketed by Bonneville Power Administration. Beginning January 1, 2020, a qualifying utility may use eligible renewable resources as identified under RCW 19.285.030 (12)(g) and (h) to meet its compliance obligation under RCW 19.285.040(2). A qualifying utility may not transfer or sell eligible renewable resources obtained from the Bonneville Power Administration to another utility for compliance purposes under RCW 19.285.040.

(10) Alternative compliance when renewable and nonemitting electric generation used to meet one hundred percent of annual retail electric load. Pursuant to RCW 19.285.040 (2)(m), beginning January 1, 2030, a qualifying utility is considered to be in compliance with an annual renewable energy target in RCW 19.285.040 (2)(a) if the utility meets one hundred percent of the utility's average annual retail electric load using any combination of electricity from:

(a) Renewable resources and renewable energy credits as defined in RCW 19.285.030; and

(b) Nonemitting electric generation, as defined in WAC 480-109-060(23).

Nothing in subsection (10) of this section relieves the requirements of a qualifying utility to comply with the conservation targets established under RCW 19.285.040(1).