Large energy use facilities

AN ACT Relating to providing electricity service to large energy 1
use facilities; amending RCW 19.29A.010; adding new sections to 2
chapter 19.29A RCW; creating a new section; and providing an 3
expiration date. 4
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:5
NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. The legislature finds that the rapid 6
growth of large energy-consuming customers, including data centers, 7
may necessitate substantial investment in new electrical generation, 8
transmission, and distribution infrastructure. The intent of this act 9
is to ensure that the costs and risks of these energy-related 10
investments are borne solely by the customers causing the need for 11
the investment, thereby protecting residential, small commercial, and 12
existing industrial ratepayers from unwarranted rate increases.13
Sec. 2. RCW 19.29A.010 and 2019 c 222 s 2 are each amended to 14
read as follows: 15
The definitions in this section apply throughout this chapter 16
unless the context clearly requires otherwise. 17
(1) "Biomass generation" has the same meaning as "biomass energy" 18
defined in RCW 19.285.030. 19
S-3870.2
SENATE BILL 6121
State of Washington 69th Legislature 2026 Regular Session
By Senator Boehnke
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(2) "Bonneville power administration system mix" means a 1
generation mix sold by the Bonneville power administration that is 2
net of any resource specific sales. 3
(3) "Commission" means the utilities and transportation 4
commission. 5
(4) "Conservation" means an increase in efficiency in the use of 6
energy use that yields a decrease in energy consumption while 7
providing the same or higher levels of service. Conservation includes 8
low-income weatherization programs. 9
(5) "Consumer-owned utility" means a municipal electric utility 10
formed under Title 35 RCW, a public utility district formed under 11
Title 54 RCW, an irrigation district formed under chapter 87.03 RCW, 12
a cooperative formed under chapter 23.86 RCW, or a mutual corporation 13
or association formed under chapter 24.06 RCW, that is engaged in the 14
business of distributing electricity to more than one retail electric 15
customer in the state. 16
(6) "Costs of serving" includes, as applicable, the costs 17
incurred by an electric utility in providing transmission, 18
distribution, energy, capacity, or ancillary electricity services, 19
and any related costs or associated risks with serving a class of 20
retail electricity consumers or a retail electricity consumer.21
(7) "Declared resource" means an electricity source specifically 22
identified by a retail supplier to serve retail electric customers. A 23
declared resource includes a stated quantity of electricity tied 24
directly to a specified generation facility or set of facilities 25
either through ownership or contract purchase, or a contractual right 26
to a stated quantity of electricity from a specified generation 27
facility or set of facilities. 28
(((7))) (8) "Department" means the department of commerce.29
(((8))) (9) "Electric meters in service" means those meters that 30
record in at least nine of twelve calendar months in any calendar 31
year not less than two hundred fifty kilowatt-hours per month.32
(((9))) (10) "Electric utility" means a consumer-owned or 33
investor-owned utility as defined in this section.34
(((10))) (11) "Electricity" means electric energy measured in 35
kilowatt-hours, or electric capacity measured in kilowatts, or both.36
(((11))) (12) "Electricity product" means the electrical energy 37
produced by a generating facility or facilities that a retail 38
supplier sells or offers to sell to retail electric customers in the 39
state of Washington, provided that nothing in this title shall be 40
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construed to mean that electricity is a good or product for the 1
purposes of Title 62A RCW, or any other purpose. It does not include 2
electrical energy generated on-site at a retail electric customer's 3
premises. 4
(((12))) (13) "Electricity product content label" means 5
information presented in a uniform format by a retail supplier to its 6
retail customers and disclosing the information required in RCW 7
19.29A.060 about the characteristics of an electricity product.8
(((13))) (14) "Facility" means any physical property, plant, 9
building, structure, source, or stationary equipment located on one 10
or more contiguous or adjacent properties in actual physical contact 11
or separated solely by a public roadway or other public right-of-way 12
and under common ownership or common control.13
(15) "Fuel attribute" means the characteristic of electricity 14
determined by the fuel used in the generation of that electricity. 15
For a renewable resource, the fuel attribute is included in its 16
nonpower attributes. 17
(((14))) (16) "Fuel mix" means the sources of electricity sold to 18
retail electric customers, expressed in terms of percentage 19
contribution by resource category. The total fuel mix included in 20
each disclosure shall total one hundred percent. 21
(((15))) (17) "Governing body" means the council of a city or 22
town, the commissioners of an irrigation district, municipal electric 23
utility, or public utility district, or the board of directors of an 24
electric cooperative or mutual association that has the authority to 25
set and approve rates. 26
(((16))) (18) "Investor-owned utility" means a company owned by 27
investors that meets the definition of RCW 80.04.010 and is engaged 28
in distributing electricity to one or more retail electric customers 29
in the state. 30
(((17))) (19) "Large energy use facility" means a facility that 31
uses or is able to use 20 megawatts or more.32
(20) "Nonpower attributes" has the same meaning as defined in RCW 33
19.285.030. 34
(((18))) (21) "Private customer information" includes a retail 35
electric customer's name, address, telephone number, and other 36
personally identifying information. 37
(((19))) (22) "Proprietary customer information" means: (a) 38
Information that relates to the source, technical configuration, 39
destination, and amount of electricity used by a retail electric 40
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customer, a retail electric customer's payment history, and household 1
data that is made available by the customer solely by virtue of the 2
utility-customer relationship; and (b) information contained in a 3
retail electric customer's bill. 4
(((20))) (23) "Renewable energy certificate" means a tradable 5
certificate of proof of one megawatt-hour of electricity from a 6
renewable resource. The certificate includes all of the nonpower 7
attributes associated with that one megawatt-hour of electricity, and 8
the certificate is verified by a renewable energy certificate 9
tracking system specified by the department. 10
(((21))) (24) "Renewable resource" has the same meaning as 11
defined in RCW 19.285.030. 12
(((22))) (25) "Resale" means the purchase and subsequent sale of 13
electricity for profit, but does not include the purchase and the 14
subsequent sale of electricity at the same rate at which the 15
electricity was purchased. 16
(((23))) (26) "Retail electric customer" means a person or entity 17
that purchases electricity for ultimate consumption and not for 18
resale. 19
(((24))) (27) "Retail supplier" means an electric utility that 20
offers an electricity product for sale to retail electric customers 21
in the state. 22
(((25))) (28) "Small utility" means any consumer-owned utility 23
with twenty-five thousand or fewer electric meters in service, or 24
that has an average of seven or fewer customers per mile of 25
distribution line. 26
(((26))) (29) "Source and disposition report" means the report 27
required in RCW 19.29A.140. 28
(((27))) (30) "State" means the state of Washington.29
(((28))) (31) "Unspecified source" means an electricity source 30
for which the fuel attribute is unknown or has been separated from 31
the energy. 32
NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. A new section is added to chapter 19.29A 33
RCW to read as follows: 34
(1) The commission for investor-owned utilities and the 35
department for consumer-owned utilities shall each develop a model 36
tariff for retail electricity consumers that are large energy use 37
facilities by June 30, 2027. The model tariff must be separate and 38
distinct from tariffs for other commercial or industrial retail 39
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electricity consumers and have its own tariff schedule. Any model 1
tariff schedule developed for large energy use facilities by the 2
commission for investor-owned utilities or the department for 3
consumer-owned utilities must: 4
(a)(i) Allocate the costs of serving retail electricity consumers 5
that are large energy use facilities in a manner that is equal or 6
proportional to the costs of serving these consumers; or7
(ii) Directly assign the costs of serving a retail electricity 8
consumer that is a large energy use facility to the retail 9
electricity consumer; 10
(b) Meet the same public interest conditions that the commission 11
or a governing body requires for a contract under section 4 (1)(b)(v) 12
of this act; and 13
(c) Mitigate the risk of: 14
(i) Other classes of retail electricity consumers paying 15
increased or unwarranted costs; and 16
(ii) Shifting the costs, in an unwarranted manner, of serving a 17
retail electricity consumer that is a large energy use facility to 18
other classes of retail electricity consumers, including costs of an 19
electric utility to meet load requirements resulting from the 20
provision of electricity service to a retail electricity consumer 21
that is a large energy use facility. 22
(2) In deciding whether to approve a proposed tariff schedule of 23
an investor-owned utility for a retail electricity consumer that is a 24
large energy use facility, the commission shall consider whether the 25
rates: 26
(a) Result in, or have the potential to result in, increased 27
costs or unwarranted risk to other retail electricity consumers;28
(b) Provide for equitable contributions to grid efficiency, 29
reliability, and resiliency benefits; 30
(c) Impede the investor-owned utility's ability to meet the clean 31
energy transformation act requirements under chapter 19.405 RCW or 32
reduce the emissions of greenhouse gases consistent with state 33
policy; 34
(d) Allow for procurement of or contracts for generation 35
resources that support the investor-owned utility's ability to meet 36
the clean energy transformation act requirements under chapter 19.405 37
RCW or reduce the emissions of greenhouse gases consistent with state 38
policy; and 39
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(e) Meet any other conditions the commission may require in the 1
public interest. 2
(3) In deciding whether to approve a proposed tariff schedule of 3
a consumer-owned utility for a retail electricity consumer that is a 4
large energy use facility, the governing body shall consider whether 5
the rates: 6
(a) Result in, or have the potential to result in, increased 7
costs or unwarranted risk to other retail electricity consumers;8
(b) Provide for equitable contributions to grid efficiency, 9
reliability, and resiliency benefits; 10
(c) Impede the consumer-owned utility's ability to meet the clean 11
energy transformation act requirements under chapter 19.405 RCW or 12
reduce the emissions of greenhouse gases consistent with state 13
policy; 14
(d) Allow for procurement of or contracts for generation 15
resources that support the consumer-owned utility's ability to meet 16
the clean energy transformation act requirements under chapter 19.405 17
RCW or reduce the emissions of greenhouse gases consistent with state 18
policy; and 19
(e) Meet any other conditions the governing body may require in 20
the public interest. 21
NEW SECTION. Sec. 4. A new section is added to chapter 19.29A 22
RCW to read as follows: 23
(1)(a) With the exception of subsection (2) of this section, 24
beginning January 1, 2028, the commission for an investor-owned 25
utility or a governing body of a consumer-owned utility shall require 26
an electric utility that is providing electricity service to a retail 27
electricity consumer that is a large energy use facility to enter 28
into a contract with the retail electricity consumer that covers the 29
provision of the electricity service, including, as applicable, 30
transmission, distribution, energy, capacity, or ancillary 31
electricity services. 32
(b) Any contract for the provision of electricity service entered 33
into between an electric utility and a retail electricity consumer 34
that is a large energy use facility must: 35
(i) Be consistent with the model tariff developed in accordance 36
with section 3 of this act; 37
(ii) Specify the duration of the contract and be for a duration 38
of 10 years or longer; 39
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(iii) Specify the date or estimated date that the electric 1
utility will begin to provide electricity service to the retail 2
electricity consumer; 3
(iv) Obligate the retail electricity consumer to pay a minimum 4
amount or percentage, as determined by the commission, based on the 5
retail electricity consumer's projected electricity usage for the 6
electricity services the electric utility is contracted to provide 7
for the duration of the contract; and 8
(v) Meet any other conditions that may be required in the public 9
interest. 10
(c) Any contract for the provision of electricity service entered 11
into between an electric utility and a retail electricity consumer 12
that is a large energy use facility, may include a charge for excess 13
demand for the electricity services the electric utility is 14
contracted to provide that is in addition to the tariff schedule.15
(2) A consumer-owned utility that has executed a contract with a 16
large energy use facility on or before the effective date of this 17
section is considered to be in compliance with the requirements of 18
subsection (1) of this section as long as the contract meets the 19
criteria under subsection (1) of this section. 20
NEW SECTION. Sec. 5. A new section is added to chapter 19.29A 21
RCW to read as follows: 22
Section 4 of this act applies to retail electricity consumers 23
that are large energy use facilities that: 24
(1) Enter into a contract for electricity service with an 25
electric utility after December 31, 2027; or 26
(2) Enter into a contract for electricity service with an 27
electric utility before January 1, 2028, if the provision of 28
electricity service requires the electric utility to make significant 29
investments or incur costs after January 1, 2028, that could result 30
in increased costs or risks to other retail electricity consumers of 31
the electric utility. 32
NEW SECTION. Sec. 6. A new section is added to chapter 19.29A 33
RCW to read as follows: 34
(1) By September 1st of each odd-numbered year, the department 35
must submit a report, and may include recommendations for 36
legislation, to the relevant committees of the legislature. The 37
report must review trends in load requirements and other implications 38
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from retail electricity consumers that are large energy use 1
facilities and other retail electricity consumers that use large 2
amounts of electricity. In providing the report, the department must 3
protect proprietary information. 4
(2) This section expires January 2, 2036. 5
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