Bill protecting ratepayers, ensuring electrical grid reliability, guiding responsible data center development heard in committee
OLYMPIA – A bill protecting ratepayers from potential new costs associated with large energy use facilities (ELEUFs), such as data centers, in Washington state was heard Friday in the Senate Environment, Energy & Technology Committee.
Senate Bill 6171, sponsored by Sen. Sharon Shewmake (D-Bellingham), is the Senate companion to House Bill 2515, sponsored by Rep. Beth Doglio (D-Olympia). It would require electric utilities with an emerging large energy use facility in its service territory to include a consumer cost-protection policy, protecting ratepayers from costs associated with the development and energy needs of the facility. These policies would require Utilities and Transportation Commission approval that the policy is designed to avoid immediate and long-term risks to electric customers, including shifts of costs from the ELEUF to other customers, stranded utility assets, and any other increased costs for customers resulting from serving a new ELEUF.
ELEUFs would also be required to publish a sustainability report, with annual energy and water usage forecasts.
“With the data center growth projections, we are committed to protecting Washingtonians utility rates and our grid reliability – keeping the lights on,” said Doglio.
Additionally, the bill requires ELEUFs to pay a small fee per kilowatt hour. The revenue collected by the Department of Revenue would be placed into a newly created account, with funds spent on utility assistance for low-income households and on higher education career services, helping prepare Washingtonians to compete for the new jobs created by data centers.
“When Rep. Doglio brought forward this bill, I was eager to sponsor the Senate companion,” Shewmake said. “Data centers present an enormous opportunity, creating new jobs, bringing economic opportunity to rural communities, and generating investment into our green energy economy. To take advantage of that opportunity, utilities will have to build out the grid to accommodate the energy needs of these facilities. We want to make sure that customers are protected, that these data centers don’t cause utility bill increases or dangerous lapses in grid reliability.”
Follow the bill’s progress here.
