Commerce schedules two stakeholder workshops on implementation of Washington’s 100% clean electricity law
The Washington Department of Commerce will hold two public workshops to discuss implementation of Washington’s new 100% clean electricity law, known as the Clean Energy Transformation Act. Input from these workshops will help the agency set priorities for rulemaking work over the next two years.
The Clean Energy Transformation Act (CETA), or Senate Bill 5116, establishes new planning requirements for electric utilities and sets specific standards to reduce and eventually eliminate use of fossil fuels to generate electricity for Washington customers. The law also amends the Energy Independence Act (EIA), also known as Initiative 937.
The time and date of the two public workshops are:
- Tuesday, July 30 from 9 a.m. to noon, Commerce Olympia Office, 1011 Plum Street SE, Olympia, WA. A webinar option will be available for this meeting.
- Thursday, Aug. 1 from 1 to 4 p.m., Washington State Housing Finance Commission, 1000 2nd Ave #2700, Seattle, WA. A webinar option will be available for this meeting.
The purpose of the July 30 workshop in Olympia is to identify and prioritize issues that stakeholders believe should be addressed through administrative rules. This list, while incomplete, illustrates the potential topics for rulemaking to implement the 100% clean electricity legislation:
- Documentation of federal incremental hydro under the EIA.
- Requirements for clean energy implementation plans.
- Utility reporting requirements about planning and compliance.
- Requirements for calculating and submitting information about greenhouse gas emissions from electricity.
- Opportunities to streamline requirements between the CETA and the EIA.
- Documentation of thermal renewable energy certificates.
- Rules to document energy purchased and sold in wholesale power markets.
The Aug. 1 workshop in Seattle has a specific focus on provisions in the CETA concerning low-income energy burden, energy assistance and the equitable distribution of energy benefits. This work will provide definitions and guidelines to be used as Commerce begins collecting data from utilities in July 2020. Commerce hopes to engage a broad group of stakeholders and facilitate a discussion about the intent and opportunities in these sections of the CETA.
In addition to these workshop opportunities, stakeholders may also comment in writing on the scope and priorities of the rulemaking. Written comments should be submitted by email to ceta@commerce.wa.gov.
To learn more about the CETA and Commerce’s work to implement it, visit this web page: commerce.wa.gov/ceta. Stakeholders may register on this page to receive future notices about this law.