HB 2690

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.
1     AN ACT Relating to clarifying existing requirements for electric
2 utilities to provide low-income energy assistance without expanding
3 those requirements; amending RCW 19.405.020 and 19.405.120; and
4 creating a new section.
5 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
6     NEW SECTION.    Sec. 1.     The legislature finds that electric
7 utilities play an important role in helping reduce the household
8 energy burden of low-income customers associated with electric
9 service, and that effective energy assistance is best delivered
10 through coordination among utilities, public agencies, nonprofit
11 service providers, and private and charitable funding sources.
12     The legislature further finds that duplicative administrative
13 requirements and unclear funding boundaries can increase costs to
14 utilities and ratepayers without improving the delivery of assistance
15 to households most in need. It is therefore the intent of the
16 legislature to simplify and clarify the administration of energy
17 assistance programs, reduce unnecessary compliance and reporting
18 costs, and allow electric utilities to demonstrate progress toward
19 meeting energy assistance needs by leveraging multiple public and
20 private funding sources.
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1     The legislature intends to protect electric ratepayers by
2 clarifying that a utility's obligation under this section is limited
3 to addressing the energy assistance need associated with electricity
4 use provided by that utility, and not the costs of other household
5 energy sources or fuels that are not part of the utility's electric
6 service.
7     It is further the intent of the legislature to preserve local and
8 regulatory rate-making authority while encouraging flexible, cost-
9 effective, and coordinated approaches that maximize the amount of
10 assistance delivered to low-income households and minimize the
11 administrative and financial burden on utilities and their customers.
12     Sec. 2.   RCW 19.405.020 and 2025 c 221 s 1 are each amended to
13 read as follows:
14     The definitions in this section apply throughout this chapter
15 unless the context clearly requires otherwise.
16     (1) "Allocation of electricity" means, for the purposes of
17 setting electricity rates, the costs and benefits associated with the
18 resources used to provide electricity to an electric utility's retail
19 electricity consumers that are located in this state.
20     (2)    "Alternative   compliance   payment"  means   the   payment
21 established in RCW 19.405.090(2).
22      (3) "Attorney general" means the Washington state office of the
23 attorney general.
24     (4) "Auditor" means: (a) The Washington state auditor's office or
25 its designee for utilities under its jurisdiction under this chapter
26 that are consumer-owned utilities; or (b) an independent auditor
27 selected by a utility that is not under the jurisdiction of the state
28 auditor and is not an investor-owned utility.
29     (5)(a) "Biomass energy" includes: (i) Organic by-products of
30 pulping and the wood manufacturing process; (ii) animal manure; (iii)
31 solid organic fuels from wood; (iv) forest or field residues; (v)
32 untreated wooden demolition or construction debris; (vi) food waste
33 and food processing residuals; (vii) liquors derived from algae;
34 (viii) dedicated energy crops; and (ix) yard waste.
35     (b) "Biomass energy" does not include: (i) Wood pieces that have
36 been    treated  with   chemical   preservatives  such  as   creosote,
37 pentachlorophenol, or copper-chrome-arsenic; (ii) wood from old
38 growth forests; or (iii) municipal solid waste.
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1     (6) "Carbon dioxide equivalent" has the same meaning as defined
2 in RCW 70A.45.010.
3     (7)(a) "Coal-fired resource" means a facility that uses coal-
4 fired generating units, or that uses units fired in whole or in part
5 by coal as feedstock, to generate electricity.
6     (b)(i) "Coal-fired resource" does not include unspecified
7 electricity that is included as part of a limited duration wholesale
8 power purchase made by an electric utility for delivery to retail
9 electric customers that are located in this state, where the purchase
10 is:
11     (A)(I) For a contract duration not to exceed three months; or
12     (II) A purchase of system sales for a contract duration not to
13 exceed six months, provided that the purchase is used to demonstrate
14 compliance with the electric utility's seasonal resource adequacy
15 requirements under a regional resource adequacy program; and
16     (B) Not used for the purpose of avoiding the restrictions on
17 coal-fired resources under RCW 19.405.030.
18     (ii)   "Coal-fired  resource"   does   not  include   an  electric
19 generating facility that is subject to an obligation to meet the
20 standards contained in RCW 80.80.040(3)(c).
21     (8)   "Commission"    means   the    Washington    utilities   and
22 transportation commission.
23     (9) "Conservation and efficiency resources" means any reduction
24 in electric power consumption that results from increases in the
25 efficiency of energy use, production, transmission, or distribution.
26     (10) "Consumer-owned utility" means a municipal electric utility
27 formed under Title 35 RCW, a public utility district formed under
28 Title 54 RCW, an irrigation district formed under chapter 87.03 RCW,
29 a cooperative formed under chapter 23.86 RCW, or a mutual corporation
30 or association formed under chapter 24.06 RCW, that is engaged in the
31 business of distributing electricity to more than one retail electric
32 customer in the state.
33     (11) "Demand response" means changes in electric usage by demand-
34 side resources from their normal consumption patterns in response to
35 changes in the price of electricity, or to incentive payments
36 designed to induce lower electricity use, at times of high wholesale
37 market prices or when system reliability is jeopardized. "Demand
38 response" may include measures to increase or decrease electricity
39 production on the customer's side of the meter in response to
40 incentive payments.
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1     (12) "Department" means the department of commerce.
2     (13) "Distributed energy resource" means a nonemitting electric
3 generation or renewable resource or program that reduces electric
4 demand, manages the level or timing of electricity consumption, or
5 provides storage, electric energy, capacity, or ancillary services to
6 an electric utility and that is located on the distribution system,
7 any subsystem of the distribution system, or behind the customer
8 meter, including conservation and energy efficiency.
9     (14) "Electric utility" or "utility" means a consumer-owned
10 utility or an investor-owned utility.
11     (15) "Energy assistance" means a program undertaken by ((a)) an
12 electric utility or by an electric utility in coordination with a
13 third party that administers an energy assistance program to reduce
14 the household energy burden of its customers.
15     (a) Energy assistance includes, but is not limited to,
16 weatherization, conservation and efficiency services, and monetary
17 assistance, such as a grant program or discounts for lower income
18 households, intended to lower a household's energy burden.
19     (b) Energy assistance may include direct customer ownership in
20 distributed energy resources or other strategies if such strategies
21 achieve a reduction in energy burden for the customer above other
22 available conservation and demand-side measures.
23     (16) "Energy assistance need" means the amount of assistance
24 necessary to achieve a level of household energy burden established
25 by the department or commission.
26     (17) "Energy burden" means the share of annual household income
27 used to pay annual home energy bills.
28     (18)(a) "Energy transformation project" means a project or
29 program that: Provides energy-related goods or services, other than
30 the generation of electricity; results in a reduction of fossil fuel
31 consumption and in a reduction of the emission of greenhouse gases
32 attributable to that consumption; and provides benefits to the
33 customers of an electric utility.
34     (b) "Energy transformation project" may include but is not
35 limited to:
36     (i) Home weatherization or other energy efficiency measures,
37 including market transformation for energy efficiency products, in
38 excess of: The target established under RCW 19.285.040(1), if
39 applicable; other state obligations; or other obligations in effect
40 on May 7, 2019;
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1     (ii) Support for electrification of the transportation sector
2 including, but not limited to:
3     (A)   Equipment  on   an   electric  utility's  transmission  and
4 distribution system to accommodate electric vehicle connections, as
5 well as smart grid systems that enable electronic interaction between
6 the electric utility and charging systems, and facilitate the
7 utilization of vehicle batteries for system needs;
8     (B) Incentives for the sale or purchase of electric vehicles,
9 both battery and fuel cell powered, as authorized under state or
10 federal law;
11     (C) Incentives for the installation of charging equipment for
12 electric vehicles;
13     (D) Incentives for the electrification of vehicle fleets
14 utilizing a battery or fuel cell for electric supply;
15     (E) Incentives to install and operate equipment to produce or
16 distribute renewable hydrogen; and
17     (F) Incentives for renewable hydrogen fueling stations;
18     (iii) Investment in distributed energy resources and grid
19 modernization to facilitate distributed energy resources and improved
20 grid resilience;
21     (iv)   Investments    in   equipment   for  renewable    natural   gas
22 processing,    conditioning,     and   production,   or    equipment    or
23 infrastructure used solely for the purpose of delivering renewable
24 natural gas for consumption or distribution;
25     (v) Contributions to self-directed investments in the following
26 measures to serve the sites of large industrial gas and electrical
27 customers: (A) Conservation; (B) new renewable resources; (C) behind-
28 the-meter technology that facilitates demand response cooperation to
29 reduce peak loads; (D) infrastructure to support electrification of
30 transportation     needs,     including    battery    and     fuel    cell
31 electrification;    or    (E)    renewable   natural    gas    processing,
32 conditioning, or production; and
33     (vi) Projects and programs that achieve energy efficiency and
34 emission reductions in the agricultural sector, including bioenergy
35 and renewable natural gas projects.
36     (19) "Fossil fuel" means natural gas, petroleum, coal, or any
37 form of solid, liquid, or gaseous fuel derived from such a material.
38     (20) "Governing body" means: The council of a city or town; the
39 commissioners of an irrigation district, municipal electric utility,
40 or public utility district; or the board of directors of an electric
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1 cooperative or mutual association that has the authority to set and
2 approve rates.
3     (21) "Greenhouse gas" includes carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous
4 oxide, hydrofluorocarbons, perfluorocarbons, sulfur hexafluoride, and
5 any other gas or gases designated by the department of ecology by
6 rule under RCW 70A.45.010.
7     (22) "Highly impacted community" means a community designated by
8 the department of health based on cumulative impact analyses in RCW
9 19.405.140 or a community located in census tracts that are fully or
10 partially on "Indian country" as defined in 18 U.S.C. Sec. 1151.
11     (23) "Investor-owned utility" means a company owned by investors
12 that meets the definition of "corporation" in RCW 80.04.010 and is
13 engaged in distributing electricity to more than one retail electric
14 customer in the state.
15     (24) "Low-income" means household incomes as defined by the
16 department or commission, provided that the definition may not exceed
17 the higher of eighty percent of area median household income or two
18 hundred percent of the federal poverty level, adjusted for household
19 size.
20     (25)(a) "Market customer" means a nonresidential customer of an
21 electric utility that: (i) Purchases electricity from an entity or
22 entities other than the utility with which it is directly
23 interconnected; or (ii) generates electricity to meet one hundred
24 percent of its own needs.
25     (b) An "affected market customer" is a customer of a utility who
26 becomes a market customer after May 7, 2019.
27     (26)(a) "Natural gas" means naturally occurring mixtures of
28 hydrocarbon gases and vapors consisting principally of methane,
29 whether in gaseous or liquid form, including methane clathrate.
30     (b) "Natural gas" does not include renewable natural gas or the
31 portion of renewable natural gas when blended into other fuels.
32     (27)(a) "Nonemitting electric generation" means electricity from
33 a generating facility or a resource that provides electric energy,
34 capacity, or ancillary services to an electric utility and that does
35 not emit greenhouse gases as a by-product of energy generation.
36     (b) "Nonemitting electric generation" does not include renewable
37 resources.
38     (28)(a) "Nonpower attributes" means all environmentally related
39 characteristics, exclusive of energy, capacity reliability, and other
40 electrical power service attributes, that are associated with the
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1 generation of electricity, including but not limited to the
2 facility's fuel type, geographic location, vintage, qualification as
3 a renewable resource, and avoided emissions of pollutants to the air,
4 soil, or water, and avoided emissions of carbon dioxide and other
5 greenhouse gases.
6     (b) "Nonpower attributes" does not include any aspects, claims,
7 characteristics, and benefits associated with the on-site capture and
8 destruction of methane or other greenhouse gases at a facility
9 through a digester system, landfill gas collection system, or other
10 mechanism, which may be separately marketable as greenhouse gas
11 emission reduction credits, offsets, or similar tradable commodities.
12 However, these separate avoided emissions may not result in or
13 otherwise have the effect of attributing greenhouse gas emissions to
14 the electricity.
15     (29) "Qualified transmission line" means an overhead transmission
16 line that is: (a) Designed to carry a voltage in excess of one
17 hundred thousand volts; (b) owned in whole or in part by an investor-
18 owned utility; and (c) primarily or exclusively used by such an
19 investor-owned utility as of May 7, 2019, to transmit electricity
20 generated by a coal-fired resource.
21     (30) "Renewable energy credit" means a tradable certificate of
22 proof of one megawatt-hour of a renewable resource. The certificate
23 includes all of the nonpower attributes associated with that one
24 megawatt-hour of electricity and the certificate is verified by a
25 renewable energy credit tracking system selected by the department.
26     (31) "Renewable hydrogen" means hydrogen produced using renewable
27 resources both as the source for the hydrogen and the source for the
28 energy input into the production process.
29     (32) "Renewable natural gas" means a gas consisting largely of
30 methane and other hydrocarbons derived from the decomposition of
31 organic material in landfills, wastewater treatment facilities, and
32 anaerobic digesters.
33     (33) "Renewable resource" means: (a) Water; (b) wind; (c) solar
34 energy; (d) geothermal energy; (e) renewable natural gas; (f)
35 renewable hydrogen; (g) wave, ocean, or tidal power; (h) biodiesel
36 fuel that is not derived from crops raised on land cleared from old
37 growth or first growth forests; or (i) biomass energy.
38     (34)(a) "Retail electric customer" means a person or entity that
39 purchases electricity from any electric utility for ultimate
40 consumption and not for resale.
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1     (b) "Retail electric customer" does not include, in the case of
2 any electric utility, any person or entity that purchases electricity
3 exclusively from carbon-free and eligible renewable resources, as
4 defined in RCW 19.285.030 as of January 1, 2019, pursuant to a
5 special contract with an investor-owned utility approved by an order
6 of the commission prior to May 7, 2019.
7     (35) "Retail electric load" means the amount of megawatt-hours of
8 electricity delivered in a given calendar year by an electric utility
9 to its Washington retail electric customers. "Retail electric load"
10 does not include:
11     (a) Megawatt-hours delivered from qualifying facilities under the
12 federal public utility regulatory policies act of 1978, P.L. 95-617,
13 in operation prior to May 7, 2019, provided that no entity other than
14 the electric utility can make a claim on delivery of the megawatt-
15 hours from those resources; or
16     (b) Megawatt-hours delivered to an electric utility's system from
17 a renewable resource through a voluntary renewable energy purchase by
18 a retail electric customer of the utility in which the renewable
19 energy credits associated with the megawatt-hours delivered are
20 retired on behalf of the retail electric customer.
21     (36) "Thermal renewable energy credit" means, with respect to a
22 facility that generates electricity using biomass energy that also
23 generates thermal energy for a secondary purpose, a renewable energy
24 credit that is equivalent to three million four hundred twelve
25 thousand British thermal units of energy used for such secondary
26 purpose.
27     (37) "Unbundled renewable energy credit" means a renewable energy
28 credit that is sold, delivered, or purchased separately from
29 electricity. All thermal renewable energy credits are considered
30 unbundled renewable energy credits.
31     (38) "Unspecified electricity" means an electricity source for
32 which the fuel attribute is unknown or has been separated from the
33 energy delivered to retail electric customers.
34     (39) "Vulnerable populations" means communities that experience a
35 disproportionate cumulative risk from environmental burdens due to:
36     (a) Adverse socioeconomic factors, including unemployment, high
37 housing and transportation costs relative to income, access to food
38 and health care, and linguistic isolation; and
39     (b) Sensitivity factors, such as low birth weight and higher
40 rates of hospitalization.
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1     Sec. 3. RCW 19.405.120 and 2019 c 288 s 12 are each amended to
2 read as follows:
3     (1) It is the intent of the legislature to demonstrate progress
4 toward making energy assistance funds available to low-income
5 households to reduce energy burden associated with electricity use
6 consistent with the policies identified in this section.
7     (2)(a) An electric utility must ((make programs and funding
8 available)) offer at least one program for energy assistance
9 associated with electricity use to customer households that meet the
10 definition of low-income ((households by July 31, 2021)). Each
11 electric utility must demonstrate progress in providing energy
12 assistance associated with electricity use pursuant to the assessment
13 and plans in subsection (4) of this section. ((To the extent
14 practicable, priority must be given to)) An electric utility may
15 focus and prioritize assistance programs to maximize assistance to a
16 subset of low-income ((households)) household customers with ((a))
17 higher energy burdens.
18     (b) An electric utility may demonstrate progress towards
19 providing energy assistance associated with electricity use using any
20 combination of funds, including funds provided by the utility, public
21 agencies, nonprofit service providers, or private donations.
22     (3) Beginning July 31, 2020, the department must collect and
23 aggregate data estimating the energy burden and energy assistance
24 need and reported energy assistance for each electric utility, in
25 order to improve agency and utility efforts to serve low-income
26 households with energy assistance. The department must update the
27 aggregated data on a biennial basis, make it publicly accessible on
28 its internet website and, to the extent practicable, include
29 geographic attributes.
30     (a) The aggregated data published by the department must include,
31 but is not limited to:
32     (i) The estimated number and demographic characteristics of
33 households served by energy assistance for each electric utility and
34 the dollar value of the assistance;
35     (ii) The estimated level of energy burden and energy assistance
36 need among customers served, accounting for household income and
37 other drivers of energy burden;
38     (iii) Housing characteristics including housing type, home
39 vintage, and fuel types; and
40     (iv) Energy efficiency potential.
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1     (b) Each electric utility must disclose information to the
2 department for use under this subsection, including:
3     (i) The amount and type of energy assistance and the number ((and
4 type)) of households((, if applicable,)) served for programs
5 administered by the utility;
6     (ii) The amount of ((money)) utility-provided funds passed
7 through to third parties that administer energy assistance programs;
8 and
9     (iii) Subject to availability, any other information related to
10 the utility's low-income assistance programs that is requested by the
11 department.
12     (c) The information required by (b) of this subsection must be
13 from the electric utility's most recent completed budget period and
14 in a form, timeline, and manner as prescribed by the department.
15     (4)(a) In addition to the requirements under subsection (3) of
16 this section, each electric utility must submit biennially to the
17 department an assessment of:
18     (i) The programs and mechanisms used by the utility to reduce
19 energy burden associated with electricity use and the effectiveness
20 of those programs and mechanisms in both short-term and sustained
21 energy burden reductions;
22     (ii) The outreach strategies used to encourage participation of
23 eligible households((, including consultation with community-based
24 organizations and Indian tribes as appropriate, and comprehensive
25 enrollment   campaigns   that  are   linguistically   and   culturally
26 appropriate to the customers they serve in vulnerable populations));
27 and
28     (iii) ((A cumulative)) An assessment of ((previous funding levels
29 for energy assistance compared to)) the funding levels, including all
30 energy assistance program costs, needed to meet((: (A) Sixty)) 60
31 percent ((of the current energy assistance need, or increasing energy
32 assistance by fifteen percent over the amount provided in 2018,
33 whichever is greater, by 2030; and (B) ninety)) and 90 percent of the
34 current   energy   assistance  need   ((by  2050))   associated   with
35 electricity use.
36     (b) The assessment required in (a) of this subsection must
37 include a plan to improve the effectiveness of the assessed
38 mechanisms and strategies ((toward meeting)) in reducing the energy
39 assistance need associated with electricity use.
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1     (5) A consumer-owned utility may enter into an agreement with a
2 public university, community-based organization, or joint operating
3 agency organized under chapter 43.52 RCW to aggregate the disclosures
4 required in this section and submit the assessment required in
5 subsections (3) and (4) of this section.
6     (6)(a) The department must submit a biennial report to the
7 legislature that:
8     (i) Aggregates information into a statewide summary of energy
9 assistance programs, energy burden, and energy assistance need;
10     (ii) Identifies and quantifies current expenditures on low-income
11 energy assistance; and
12     (iii)   Evaluates   the  effectiveness   of   additional   optimal
13 mechanisms for energy assistance including, but not limited to,
14 customer rates, a low-income specific discount, system benefits
15 charges, and public and private funds.
16     (b) The department must also assess mechanisms to prioritize
17 energy assistance towards low-income households with a higher energy
18 burden.
19     (7) Nothing in this section may be construed to restrict the
20 rate-making authority of the commission or the governing body of a
21 consumer-owned utility as otherwise provided by law.
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