CleanTech Alliance’s 2023 Washington State Legislative Session weekly report lists several House Bills related to clean energy and climate response.
Here are a few:
HB 1589 – Supporting Washington’s clean energy economy and transitioning to a clean, affordable, and reliable energy future
This companion legislation, sponsored by Representative Doglio and Senator Nguyen, is an incentive to reduce
climate impacts by switching from fossil fuel-based heating equipment to high-efficiency nonemitting equipment.
This bill intends to adopt requirements for large combination utilities to conduct integrated system planning to
develop specific actions supporting gas system decarbonization and electrification. This bill prohibits gas
companies serving more than 500,000 retail natural gas customers in Washington from extending gas service after
June 30, 2023 along with a myriad of other directives for utilities. This week, Representative Doglio held another 2-
hour meeting with stakeholders and Representative Ybarra. At the end of the meeting, Representative Doglio
voiced recognition that this bill has a lot more work that needs to be done. However, she stated her desire is to
move it through the legislative process. The bill was pulled from Rules and placed on second reading following the
stakeholder discussion.
HB 1584 – Planning for advanced nuclear reactor technology in Washington
This legislation, sponsored by Representative Barnard, works to include the consideration of developing advanced
nuclear reactor technology as a cleaner energy source as a guiding principle for the development of the State
Energy Strategy. On February 28th, the bill was pulled from Rules and onto the House Floor for deliberation. ESHB
1584 was voted off the floor (91-6) and moves to the Senate for further consideration.
HB 1216 – Concerning clean energy siting
This Governor request legislation would create an Interagency Clean Energy Siting Coordinating Council to be co-
chaired by the Department of Ecology and the Department of Commerce. The purpose of the council would be to
expedite the permitting for clean energy projects. The bill would also establish a definition for clean energy projects
“of statewide significance” and require SEPA review to be completed within two years. The House vehicle of this
legislation, sponsored by Representative Fitzgibbon, is the version that continues to move through the process this
session. On Saturday, March 4th, the bill moved out of the House with a vote of 75-20. It moves to the Senate for
further consideration.
HB 1756 – Supporting clean energy through tax changes that increase revenue to local governments, schools, and impacted communities
This legislation, sponsored by Representative Ramel, provides a property tax exemption from the state property tax
levy for personal property used for the generation of renewable energy, imposes a production excise tax on the
nameplate capacity of qualified renewable energy generating systems, and creates the renewable energy local
benefit account. Due to this bill being related to the budget, it is not impacted by cutoff like policy bills are.