(Expires January 1, 2031.) (1) At least once every twelve months, the department and the commission shall jointly convene a meeting of representatives of the investor-owned utilities and consumer-owned utilities, regional planning organizations, transmission operators, energy analytics experts at Pacific Northwest national laboratory, and other stakeholders to discuss the current, short-term, and long-term adequacy of energy resources to serve the state's electric needs, and address specific steps the utilities can take to coordinate planning in light of the significant changes to the Northwest's power system including, but not limited to, technological developments, retirements of legacy baseload power generation resources, and changes in laws and regulations affecting power supply options. The department and commission shall provide a summary of these meetings, including any specific action items, to the governor and legislature within sixty days of the meeting. (2) In 2023, the meeting convened by the department and the commission pursuant to subsection (1) of this section must address strategies to ensure power supply adequacy to avoid the risk of rolling blackouts. The meeting must also focus discussion on the extent to which proposed laws and regulations may require new state policy for resource adequacy. The stakeholder meeting should seek to identify regulatory and statutory incentives to enhance and ensure resource adequacy and reliability. If regional energy analytics capability is established at Pacific Northwest national laboratory, the department and the commission must invite the Pacific Northwest national laboratory to the meeting to provide relevant analytics to inform the discussion. (3) This section expires January 1, 2031. [ 2023 c 200 s 2; 2020 c 63 s 2.]
‹ Prev All Washington sections Next ›
Lexace provides legal information, not legal advice, and no attorney–client relationship is created. Statute text is provided for general information and may not reflect the most recent amendments; verify against the official state code.