Electricity/low-income

AN ACT Relating to clarifying existing requirements for electric 1
utilities to provide low-income energy assistance without expanding 2
those requirements; amending RCW 19.405.020 and 19.405.120; and 3
creating a new section. 4
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:5
NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. The legislature finds that electric 6
utilities play an important role in helping reduce the household 7
energy burden of low-income customers associated with electric 8
service, and that effective energy assistance is best delivered 9
through coordination among utilities, public agencies, nonprofit 10
service providers, and private and charitable funding sources.11
The legislature further finds that duplicative administrative 12
requirements and unclear funding boundaries can increase costs to 13
utilities and ratepayers without improving the delivery of assistance 14
to households most in need. It is therefore the intent of the 15
legislature to simplify and clarify the administration of energy 16
assistance programs, reduce unnecessary compliance and reporting 17
costs, and allow electric utilities to demonstrate progress toward 18
meeting energy assistance needs by leveraging multiple public and 19
private funding sources. 20
H-3187.1
HOUSE BILL 2690
State of Washington 69th Legislature 2026 Regular Session
By Representatives Abbarno, Stuebe, Barnard, Dye, Walsh, and Ley
Read first time 01/28/26. Referred to Committee on Environment &
Energy.
p. 1 HB 2690
The legislature intends to protect electric ratepayers by 1
clarifying that a utility's obligation under this section is limited 2
to addressing the energy assistance need associated with electricity 3
use provided by that utility, and not the costs of other household 4
energy sources or fuels that are not part of the utility's electric 5
service. 6
It is further the intent of the legislature to preserve local and 7
regulatory rate-making authority while encouraging flexible, cost-8
effective, and coordinated approaches that maximize the amount of 9
assistance delivered to low-income households and minimize the 10
administrative and financial burden on utilities and their customers.11
Sec. 2. RCW 19.405.020 and 2025 c 221 s 1 are each amended to 12
read as follows: 13
The definitions in this section apply throughout this chapter 14
unless the context clearly requires otherwise. 15
(1) "Allocation of electricity" means, for the purposes of 16
setting electricity rates, the costs and benefits associated with the 17
resources used to provide electricity to an electric utility's retail 18
electricity consumers that are located in this state.19
(2) "Alternative compliance payment" means the payment 20
established in RCW 19.405.090(2). 21
(3) "Attorney general" means the Washington state office of the 22
attorney general. 23
(4) "Auditor" means: (a) The Washington state auditor's office or 24
its designee for utilities under its jurisdiction under this chapter 25
that are consumer-owned utilities; or (b) an independent auditor 26
selected by a utility that is not under the jurisdiction of the state 27
auditor and is not an investor-owned utility. 28
(5)(a) "Biomass energy" includes: (i) Organic by-products of 29
pulping and the wood manufacturing process; (ii) animal manure; (iii) 30
solid organic fuels from wood; (iv) forest or field residues; (v) 31
untreated wooden demolition or construction debris; (vi) food waste 32
and food processing residuals; (vii) liquors derived from algae; 33
(viii) dedicated energy crops; and (ix) yard waste.34
(b) "Biomass energy" does not include: (i) Wood pieces that have 35
been treated with chemical preservatives such as creosote, 36
pentachlorophenol, or copper-chrome-arsenic; (ii) wood from old 37
growth forests; or (iii) municipal solid waste. 38
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(6) "Carbon dioxide equivalent" has the same meaning as defined 1
in RCW 70A.45.010. 2
(7)(a) "Coal-fired resource" means a facility that uses coal-3
fired generating units, or that uses units fired in whole or in part 4
by coal as feedstock, to generate electricity. 5
(b)(i) "Coal-fired resource" does not include unspecified 6
electricity that is included as part of a limited duration wholesale 7
power purchase made by an electric utility for delivery to retail 8
electric customers that are located in this state, where the purchase 9
is: 10
(A)(I) For a contract duration not to exceed three months; or11
(II) A purchase of system sales for a contract duration not to 12
exceed six months, provided that the purchase is used to demonstrate 13
compliance with the electric utility's seasonal resource adequacy 14
requirements under a regional resource adequacy program; and15
(B) Not used for the purpose of avoiding the restrictions on 16
coal-fired resources under RCW 19.405.030. 17
(ii) "Coal-fired resource" does not include an electric 18
generating facility that is subject to an obligation to meet the 19
standards contained in RCW 80.80.040(3)(c). 20
(8) "Commission" means the Washington utilities and 21
transportation commission. 22
(9) "Conservation and efficiency resources" means any reduction 23
in electric power consumption that results from increases in the 24
efficiency of energy use, production, transmission, or distribution.25
(10) "Consumer-owned utility" means a municipal electric utility 26
formed under Title 35 RCW, a public utility district formed under 27
Title 54 RCW, an irrigation district formed under chapter 87.03 RCW, 28
a cooperative formed under chapter 23.86 RCW, or a mutual corporation 29
or association formed under chapter 24.06 RCW, that is engaged in the 30
business of distributing electricity to more than one retail electric 31
customer in the state. 32
(11) "Demand response" means changes in electric usage by demand-33
side resources from their normal consumption patterns in response to 34
changes in the price of electricity, or to incentive payments 35
designed to induce lower electricity use, at times of high wholesale 36
market prices or when system reliability is jeopardized. "Demand 37
response" may include measures to increase or decrease electricity 38
production on the customer's side of the meter in response to 39
incentive payments. 40
p. 3 HB 2690
(12) "Department" means the department of commerce.1
(13) "Distributed energy resource" means a nonemitting electric 2
generation or renewable resource or program that reduces electric 3
demand, manages the level or timing of electricity consumption, or 4
provides storage, electric energy, capacity, or ancillary services to 5
an electric utility and that is located on the distribution system, 6
any subsystem of the distribution system, or behind the customer 7
meter, including conservation and energy efficiency.8
(14) "Electric utility" or "utility" means a consumer-owned 9
utility or an investor-owned utility. 10
(15) "Energy assistance" means a program undertaken by ((a)) an 11
electric utility or by an electric utility in coordination with a 12
third party that administers an energy assistance program to reduce 13
the household energy burden of its customers. 14
(a) Energy assistance includes, but is not limited to, 15
weatherization, conservation and efficiency services, and monetary 16
assistance, such as a grant program or discounts for lower income 17
households, intended to lower a household's energy burden.18
(b) Energy assistance may include direct customer ownership in 19
distributed energy resources or other strategies if such strategies 20
achieve a reduction in energy burden for the customer above other 21
available conservation and demand-side measures. 22
(16) "Energy assistance need" means the amount of assistance 23
necessary to achieve a level of household energy burden established 24
by the department or commission. 25
(17) "Energy burden" means the share of annual household income 26
used to pay annual home energy bills. 27
(18)(a) "Energy transformation project" means a project or 28
program that: Provides energy-related goods or services, other than 29
the generation of electricity; results in a reduction of fossil fuel 30
consumption and in a reduction of the emission of greenhouse gases 31
attributable to that consumption; and provides benefits to the 32
customers of an electric utility. 33
(b) "Energy transformation project" may include but is not 34
limited to: 35
(i) Home weatherization or other energy efficiency measures, 36
including market transformation for energy efficiency products, in 37
excess of: The target established under RCW 19.285.040(1), if 38
applicable; other state obligations; or other obligations in effect 39
on May 7, 2019; 40
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(ii) Support for electrification of the transportation sector 1
including, but not limited to: 2
(A) Equipment on an electric utility's transmission and 3
distribution system to accommodate electric vehicle connections, as 4
well as smart grid systems that enable electronic interaction between 5
the electric utility and charging systems, and facilitate the 6
utilization of vehicle batteries for system needs; 7
(B) Incentives for the sale or purchase of electric vehicles, 8
both battery and fuel cell powered, as authorized under state or 9
federal law; 10
(C) Incentives for the installation of charging equipment for 11
electric vehicles; 12
(D) Incentives for the electrification of vehicle fleets 13
utilizing a battery or fuel cell for electric supply;14
(E) Incentives to install and operate equipment to produce or 15
distribute renewable hydrogen; and 16
(F) Incentives for renewable hydrogen fueling stations;17
(iii) Investment in distributed energy resources and grid 18
modernization to facilitate distributed energy resources and improved 19
grid resilience; 20
(iv) Investments in equipment for renewable natural gas 21
processing, conditioning, and production, or equipment or 22
infrastructure used solely for the purpose of delivering renewable 23
natural gas for consumption or distribution; 24
(v) Contributions to self-directed investments in the following 25
measures to serve the sites of large industrial gas and electrical 26
customers: (A) Conservation; (B) new renewable resources; (C) behind-27
the-meter technology that facilitates demand response cooperation to 28
reduce peak loads; (D) infrastructure to support electrification of 29
transportation needs, including battery and fuel cell 30
electrification; or (E) renewable natural gas processing, 31
conditioning, or production; and 32
(vi) Projects and programs that achieve energy efficiency and 33
emission reductions in the agricultural sector, including bioenergy 34
and renewable natural gas projects. 35
(19) "Fossil fuel" means natural gas, petroleum, coal, or any 36
form of solid, liquid, or gaseous fuel derived from such a material.37
(20) "Governing body" means: The council of a city or town; the 38
commissioners of an irrigation district, municipal electric utility, 39
or public utility district; or the board of directors of an electric 40
p. 5 HB 2690
cooperative or mutual association that has the authority to set and 1
approve rates. 2
(21) "Greenhouse gas" includes carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous 3
oxide, hydrofluorocarbons, perfluorocarbons, sulfur hexafluoride, and 4
any other gas or gases designated by the department of ecology by 5
rule under RCW 70A.45.010. 6
(22) "Highly impacted community" means a community designated by 7
the department of health based on cumulative impact analyses in RCW 8
19.405.140 or a community located in census tracts that are fully or 9
partially on "Indian country" as defined in 18 U.S.C. Sec. 1151.10
(23) "Investor-owned utility" means a company owned by investors 11
that meets the definition of "corporation" in RCW 80.04.010 and is 12
engaged in distributing electricity to more than one retail electric 13
customer in the state. 14
(24) "Low-income" means household incomes as defined by the 15
department or commission, provided that the definition may not exceed 16
the higher of eighty percent of area median household income or two 17
hundred percent of the federal poverty level, adjusted for household 18
size. 19
(25)(a) "Market customer" means a nonresidential customer of an 20
electric utility that: (i) Purchases electricity from an entity or 21
entities other than the utility with which it is directly 22
interconnected; or (ii) generates electricity to meet one hundred 23
percent of its own needs. 24
(b) An "affected market customer" is a customer of a utility who 25
becomes a market customer after May 7, 2019. 26
(26)(a) "Natural gas" means naturally occurring mixtures of 27
hydrocarbon gases and vapors consisting principally of methane, 28
whether in gaseous or liquid form, including methane clathrate.29
(b) "Natural gas" does not include renewable natural gas or the 30
portion of renewable natural gas when blended into other fuels.31
(27)(a) "Nonemitting electric generation" means electricity from 32
a generating facility or a resource that provides electric energy, 33
capacity, or ancillary services to an electric utility and that does 34
not emit greenhouse gases as a by-product of energy generation.35
(b) "Nonemitting electric generation" does not include renewable 36
resources. 37
(28)(a) "Nonpower attributes" means all environmentally related 38
characteristics, exclusive of energy, capacity reliability, and other 39
electrical power service attributes, that are associated with the 40
p. 6 HB 2690
generation of electricity, including but not limited to the 1
facility's fuel type, geographic location, vintage, qualification as 2
a renewable resource, and avoided emissions of pollutants to the air, 3
soil, or water, and avoided emissions of carbon dioxide and other 4
greenhouse gases. 5
(b) "Nonpower attributes" does not include any aspects, claims, 6
characteristics, and benefits associated with the on-site capture and 7
destruction of methane or other greenhouse gases at a facility 8
through a digester system, landfill gas collection system, or other 9
mechanism, which may be separately marketable as greenhouse gas 10
emission reduction credits, offsets, or similar tradable commodities. 11
However, these separate avoided emissions may not result in or 12
otherwise have the effect of attributing greenhouse gas emissions to 13
the electricity. 14
(29) "Qualified transmission line" means an overhead transmission 15
line that is: (a) Designed to carry a voltage in excess of one 16
hundred thousand volts; (b) owned in whole or in part by an investor-17
owned utility; and (c) primarily or exclusively used by such an 18
investor-owned utility as of May 7, 2019, to transmit electricity 19
generated by a coal-fired resource. 20
(30) "Renewable energy credit" means a tradable certificate of 21
proof of one megawatt-hour of a renewable resource. The certificate 22
includes all of the nonpower attributes associated with that one 23
megawatt-hour of electricity and the certificate is verified by a 24
renewable energy credit tracking system selected by the department.25
(31) "Renewable hydrogen" means hydrogen produced using renewable 26
resources both as the source for the hydrogen and the source for the 27
energy input into the production process. 28
(32) "Renewable natural gas" means a gas consisting largely of 29
methane and other hydrocarbons derived from the decomposition of 30
organic material in landfills, wastewater treatment facilities, and 31
anaerobic digesters. 32
(33) "Renewable resource" means: (a) Water; (b) wind; (c) solar 33
energy; (d) geothermal energy; (e) renewable natural gas; (f) 34
renewable hydrogen; (g) wave, ocean, or tidal power; (h) biodiesel 35
fuel that is not derived from crops raised on land cleared from old 36
growth or first growth forests; or (i) biomass energy.37
(34)(a) "Retail electric customer" means a person or entity that 38
purchases electricity from any electric utility for ultimate 39
consumption and not for resale. 40
p. 7 HB 2690
(b) "Retail electric customer" does not include, in the case of 1
any electric utility, any person or entity that purchases electricity 2
exclusively from carbon-free and eligible renewable resources, as 3
defined in RCW 19.285.030 as of January 1, 2019, pursuant to a 4
special contract with an investor-owned utility approved by an order 5
of the commission prior to May 7, 2019. 6
(35) "Retail electric load" means the amount of megawatt-hours of 7
electricity delivered in a given calendar year by an electric utility 8
to its Washington retail electric customers. "Retail electric load" 9
does not include: 10
(a) Megawatt-hours delivered from qualifying facilities under the 11
federal public utility regulatory policies act of 1978, P.L. 95-617, 12
in operation prior to May 7, 2019, provided that no entity other than 13
the electric utility can make a claim on delivery of the megawatt-14
hours from those resources; or 15
(b) Megawatt-hours delivered to an electric utility's system from 16
a renewable resource through a voluntary renewable energy purchase by 17
a retail electric customer of the utility in which the renewable 18
energy credits associated with the megawatt-hours delivered are 19
retired on behalf of the retail electric customer.20
(36) "Thermal renewable energy credit" means, with respect to a 21
facility that generates electricity using biomass energy that also 22
generates thermal energy for a secondary purpose, a renewable energy 23
credit that is equivalent to three million four hundred twelve 24
thousand British thermal units of energy used for such secondary 25
purpose. 26
(37) "Unbundled renewable energy credit" means a renewable energy 27
credit that is sold, delivered, or purchased separately from 28
electricity. All thermal renewable energy credits are considered 29
unbundled renewable energy credits. 30
(38) "Unspecified electricity" means an electricity source for 31
which the fuel attribute is unknown or has been separated from the 32
energy delivered to retail electric customers. 33
(39) "Vulnerable populations" means communities that experience a 34
disproportionate cumulative risk from environmental burdens due to:35
(a) Adverse socioeconomic factors, including unemployment, high 36
housing and transportation costs relative to income, access to food 37
and health care, and linguistic isolation; and 38
(b) Sensitivity factors, such as low birth weight and higher 39
rates of hospitalization. 40
p. 8 HB 2690
Sec. 3. RCW 19.405.120 and 2019 c 288 s 12 are each amended to 1
read as follows: 2
(1) It is the intent of the legislature to demonstrate progress 3
toward making energy assistance funds available to low-income 4
households to reduce energy burden associated with electricity use 5
consistent with the policies identified in this section.6
(2)(a) An electric utility must ((make programs and funding 7
available)) offer at least one program for energy assistance 8
associated with electricity use to customer households that meet the 9
definition of low-income ((households by July 31, 2021 )). Each 10
electric utility must demonstrate progress in providing energy 11
assistance associated with electricity use pursuant to the assessment 12
and plans in subsection (4) of this section. ((To the extent 13
practicable, priority must be given to )) An electric utility may 14
focus and prioritize assistance programs to maximize assistance to a 15
subset of low-income ((households)) household customers with ((a)) 16
higher energy burdens. 17
(b) An electric utility may demonstrate progress towards 18
providing energy assistance associated with electricity use using any 19
combination of funds, including funds provided by the utility, public 20
agencies, nonprofit service providers, or private donations.21
(3) Beginning July 31, 2020, the department must collect and 22
aggregate data estimating the energy burden and energy assistance 23
need and reported energy assistance for each electric utility, in 24
order to improve agency and utility efforts to serve low-income 25
households with energy assistance. The department must update the 26
aggregated data on a biennial basis, make it publicly accessible on 27
its internet website and, to the extent practicable, include 28
geographic attributes. 29
(a) The aggregated data published by the department must include, 30
but is not limited to: 31
(i) The estimated number and demographic characteristics of 32
households served by energy assistance for each electric utility and 33
the dollar value of the assistance; 34
(ii) The estimated level of energy burden and energy assistance 35
need among customers served, accounting for household income and 36
other drivers of energy burden; 37
(iii) Housing characteristics including housing type, home 38
vintage, and fuel types; and 39
(iv) Energy efficiency potential. 40
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(b) Each electric utility must disclose information to the 1
department for use under this subsection, including:2
(i) The amount and type of energy assistance and the number ((and 3
type)) of households ((, if applicable, )) served for programs 4
administered by the utility; 5
(ii) The amount of ((money)) utility-provided funds passed 6
through to third parties that administer energy assistance programs; 7
and 8
(iii) Subject to availability, any other information related to 9
the utility's low-income assistance programs that is requested by the 10
department. 11
(c) The information required by (b) of this subsection must be 12
from the electric utility's most recent completed budget period and 13
in a form, timeline, and manner as prescribed by the department.14
(4)(a) In addition to the requirements under subsection (3) of 15
this section, each electric utility must submit biennially to the 16
department an assessment of: 17
(i) The programs and mechanisms used by the utility to reduce 18
energy burden associated with electricity use and the effectiveness 19
of those programs and mechanisms in both short-term and sustained 20
energy burden reductions; 21
(ii) The outreach strategies used to encourage participation of 22
eligible households ((, including consultation with community-based 23
organizations and Indian tribes as appropriate, and comprehensive 24
enrollment campaigns that are linguistically and culturally 25
appropriate to the customers they serve in vulnerable populations )); 26
and 27
(iii) ((A cumulative)) An assessment of ((previous funding levels 28
for energy assistance compared to )) the funding levels, including all 29
energy assistance program costs, needed to meet ((: (A) Sixty)) 60 30
percent ((of the current energy assistance need, or increasing energy 31
assistance by fifteen percent over the amount provided in 2018, 32
whichever is greater, by 2030; and (B) ninety)) and 90 percent of the 33
current energy assistance need ((by 2050 )) associated with 34
electricity use. 35
(b) The assessment required in (a) of this subsection must 36
include a plan to improve the effectiveness of the assessed 37
mechanisms and strategies ((toward meeting )) in reducing the energy 38
assistance need associated with electricity use. 39
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(5) A consumer-owned utility may enter into an agreement with a 1
public university, community-based organization, or joint operating 2
agency organized under chapter 43.52 RCW to aggregate the disclosures 3
required in this section and submit the assessment required in 4
subsections (3) and (4) of this section. 5
(6)(a) The department must submit a biennial report to the 6
legislature that: 7
(i) Aggregates information into a statewide summary of energy 8
assistance programs, energy burden, and energy assistance need;9
(ii) Identifies and quantifies current expenditures on low-income 10
energy assistance; and 11
(iii) Evaluates the effectiveness of additional optimal 12
mechanisms for energy assistance including, but not limited to, 13
customer rates, a low-income specific discount, system benefits 14
charges, and public and private funds. 15
(b) The department must also assess mechanisms to prioritize 16
energy assistance towards low-income households with a higher energy 17
burden. 18
(7) Nothing in this section may be construed to restrict the 19
rate-making authority of the commission or the governing body of a 20
consumer-owned utility as otherwise provided by law.21
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