Washington
State Energy
Policy Trends in
2011 -OPALCO
Speaker Pro Tem Jeff Morris
Can be broken down into
three areas

Financial incentives

Regulatory constructs

Unintended consequences (mistakes)
2
Financial Incentive Trends

Feed in tariff (Standard Offer)

Net metering (going up to 2mw)

Sales/property tax exemptions

Grant programs
3
4
Grant Programs for Renewables
www.dsireusa.org / February 2010
DC
23 states
State program(s) only
Utility, local, or private program(s) only
State program(s) + utility, local, and/or private program(s)
Puerto Rico
offer grant
programs for
renewables
Notes: This map only addresses grant programs for end-users. It does not address grants programs that support R&D, nor does it include grants for
geothermal heat pumps or other efficiency technologies. The Virgin Islands also offers a grant program for certain renewable energy projects.
Sales Tax Incentives for Renewables
www.dsireusa.org / February 2010
DC
Puerto Rico
State exemption or deduction
State exemption + local governments (option) authorized to
offer exemption or deduction
Notes: This map does not include sales tax incentives that apply only to geothermal heat
pumps or other energy efficiency technologies.
26 states +
PR offer sales
tax incentives
for renewables
Regulatory Constructs

RPS/climate change

Breaking down regulatory barriers
(PERMITTING)

Interconnection

Integrated Resource Planning (IRP)
7
8
9
A View of the 3D Load Model during Fly-Over
(looking north across Salt Lake Valley)
Unintended Consequences

Lack of regional coordination
RPS
 Pancaking of climate change taxes
 Boutique standards


Lack of knowledge of infrastructure of
policy makers
Transmission electric and natural gas
 firming

11
WECC RPS Mandates
State
BC
Alberta
Washington
Montana
Oregon
Idaho
Wyoming
California
Nevada
Utah
Colorado
Arizona
New Mexico
2020
2015
2010
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
15%
3%
0
15%
15%
10%
20%
15%
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
33%
26%
20%
Must atleast +1% per Year
20%
20%
12%
0
0
0
20%
15%
5%
10%
5%
2.50%
15%
15%
0
Renewables….WECC wide: Goals
vs. Current
US Area of WECC
200,000
Target Renewable
180,000
Expected 2008 Renewable
160,000
140,000
GWh
120,000
100,000
80,000
60,000
40,000
20,000
2010
2015
Year
2020
Firming the Challenge!
Focus Permitting
Local Government is not staffed to
evaluate new energy technology
 Citizens who initiate energy
independence on their own time and
dime are frustrated with length of time
and uncertainty of getting local permit.
 Reluctance to lose local decision
making to State

16
Focus Permitting HB 2516
Authorizes the Energy Facility Site
Evaluation Council (EFSEC) to permit
small alternative energy resource
facilities
 Exempts the permitting of small
alternative energy resources from the
EFSEC's adjudicatory proceeding
process and review and approval by
the Governor

17
Focus Permitting HB 2516

18
Authorizes the EFSEC and local
governments to enter into inter-local
agreements to permit small alternative
energy resource facilities within the
geographic jurisdiction of the local
government
Focus Permitting HB 2516

19
Alternative energy resources eligible
for site certification under the EFSEC
include: (1) wind; (2) solar energy; (3)
geothermal energy; (4) landfill gas; (5)
wave or tidal action; or (6)biomass
energy based on solid organic fuels
from wood, forest, or field residues, or
dedicated energy crops that do not
include wood pieces
Focus Permitting HB 2516
To perform its duties EFSEC must
survey for and determine the safest
standards for the siting of small
alternative energy resource facilities
and adopt site certification standards
based on these standards
 Authorized to charge an application
processing fee that represents full
cost recovery of expected costs

20
Focus Permitting HB 2516
Certify a small alternative energy
resource facility site in 30 days
 A site certification issued by the
EFSEC for a small alternative energy
resource facility preempts any permit
issued by a local government, if the
local government has not adopted
permitting codes for these facilities in
the last 10 years

21
Conclusions
The model in HB 2516 defers to local
governments that have current code
 Encourages local governments to off
load staffing knowledge to EFSEC in
inter-local agreements
 Provides certainty of 30 day permitting
to individuals

22