Subject of Possible Rule Making: In Docket UE-190698, the Washington utilities and transportation commission (commission) has initiated this rule making to incorporate statutory changes made to WAC 480-100-238 since 2006, including in E2SSB 5116, the Clean Energy Transformation Act, and to consider other policy and process changes to create more efficient rules that adapt to a changing energy landscape. In 2006, the commission adopted WAC 480-100-238, which requires investor-owned electric utilities to engage in long-term, integrated resource planning (IRP) processes. In 2016, the commission initiated a rule making in Docket U-161024, in part to consider whether additional rules were necessary to implement recent legislation, to clarify how recent advances in the energy industry should be treated in the IRP, and to consider other general process and policy improvements. However, that rule making was not completed before the legislature made changes, in 2019, to integrated resource planning requirements through 2SSB [E2SSB] 5116. The commission has terminated the rule making in Docket U-161024 and has incorporated work developed in Docket UE-161024 in this rule making.

Reasons Why Rules on this Subject may be Needed and What They Might Accomplish: The commission has not substantially revised its IRP rules since 2006, and the rules should be updated to reflect amendments the legislature enacted to the underlying statute subsequent to 2009. The commission must also incorporate by January 1, 2021, changes the Washington legislature made to chapter 19.280 RCW during the passage of E2SSB 5116. Furthermore, recent advances in the energy industry, such as the rapid growth of distributed generation and the development of energy storage technologies, have created modeling challenges for the IRP process that the commission may want to clarify in its rules. The commission began addressing these policy and procedural issues in its 2016 rule making, and intends to continue that process in this rule making.

Other Federal and State Agencies that Regulate this Subject and the Process Coordinating the Rule with These Agencies: The Washington state department of commerce (department) must ensure that consumer-owned utilities also meet the planning requirements as set for [forth] in E2SSB 5116. The commission and the department are coordinating their processes for implementing the requirements in E2SSB 5116.

Interested parties can participate in the decision to adopt the new rule and formulation of the proposed rule before publication by contacting Mark L. Johnson, Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission, P.O. Box 47250, Olympia, WA 98504-7250, phone 360-664-1234, email records@utc.wa.gov/e-filing, website www.utc.wa.gov/e-filing.