Washington state GOP wants renewables law changed

OREANDA-NEWS. February 06, 2015. Washington state Senate Republicans want to revise the state's renewable energy standard to encourage utilities to pay for carbon reductions in the transportation sector as part of a larger package of energy legislation.

Their main bill is SB 5735, which would amend the state's renewable energy mandate to allow utilities to comply through investments in non-electricity sector programs that cut greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Other proposals include tax incentives for alternative fuel vehicles and small modular nuclear reactors.

The package exemplifies the Republicans' vision for environmental policies, which is that "we are about carrots, not sticks" or raising taxes, state senator Doug Ericksen (R) said.

The legislation comes in response to governor Jay Inslee's (D) recent proposal for a cap-and-trade program that would use allowance auction funds to mainly support transportation projects. Inslee has also proposed a low-carbon fuel standard, for which the state Department of Ecology issued a discussion draft yesterday.

Ericksen said the renewable electricity standard increases the utility sector's GHG emissions because it excludes hydroelectric generation and because the variability of wind generation has required greater use of fossil fuel-fired units to balance loads.

Washington's program requires the use of renewables to meet 15pc of load by 2020.

SB 5735 would credit investments in electric vehicle charging stations, fleet conversions to liquefied natural gas, carbon sequestration projects or projects that store or conserve power. Utilities would get two renewable electricity credits, each worth 1MWh of generation, for each metric tonne of GHGs a project reduces.

The bill would exempt utilities from the standard's requirements so long as they invest 1pc of their annual revenue in GHG reduction projects.

The legislation has the support of one member of the Senate's Democratic caucus, Maralyn Chase, who said that all proposals need to be on the table when it comes to emissions cuts. The Republicans have a majority in the Senate while the Democrats control the House of Representatives.

Other bills in the package would provide tax incentives for alternative fuel vehicles in corporate fleets and small modular nuclear reactors and require the state to transition its ferry system from diesel to liquefied natural gas. The package will also include a bill that has not yet been introduced but "protects ratepayers if Washington utilities choose to stop using carbon-generating power sources in other states." Washington's utilities get significant amounts of coal-fired generation from plants in Wyoming and Montana.