Official Text and Analysis.

Requires all electric utilities to eliminate from electric rates all costs associated with delivering electricity generated from coal-fired power plants by December 31, 2025. Requires each electric utility to make all retail sales of electricity greenhouse gas neutral by January 1, 2030. Requires each electric utility to meet 100 percent of its retail electric load using non-emitting and renewable resources by January 1, 2045.

Removes the tiered tax remittance rates for using various labor standards on clean energy projects.

Clarifies that nuclear energy is included in the definition of "nonemitting electric generation.".

Reduces the maximum average annual incremental cost of compliance from three to two percent.

Specifies compensation must include the stranded cost, plus the greater of the book value or the fair market value of the asset, for an asset acquired or used to comply with this act that is condemned by a consumer-owned utility.

Adds rate impacts to the type of impacts that may trigger the governor's emergency power to suspend or delay implementation of the act.

Prohibits energy assistance programs from resulting in increased costs to other retail electric customers..

Eliminates the emergency clause and makes the act subject to referendum.

Revises the statement of legislative intent to acknowledge that the act will not affect global climate.

Replaces the act with a new statewide aggregate eighty percent nonemitting electric generation standard that must be achieved by 2025.

Requires the department of commerce to contract with an independent third-party consultant to review and report on the cost impact to Washington ratepayers under this act for the previous year. Each utility must display this annual cost impact on its customer billing statement.

Removes the prohibition against new hydroelectric generation.

Removes provisions relating to the social cost of greenhouse gas emissions.

Adds municipal solid waste to the definition of "biomass energy.".

Removes provisions recognizing an existing electricity recovery facility using municipal solid waste as the principal fuel source.

Defines "renewable hydrogen" and adds renewable hydrogen to the definition of renewable resource. Clarifies energy transformation projects include incentives: For electric vehicles that are both battery and fuel cell powered, to install and operate equipment to produce or distribute renewable hydrogen, and for renewable hydrogen fueling stations. Specifies that for the purpose of crediting an energy transformation project in the transportation sector toward the greenhouse gas neutral standard, the department of ecology must establish a conversion factor consistent with default emissions or conversion factors established by other jurisdictions for clean alternative fuels. Replaces references to biogas with renewable natural gas.

Requires rules to suspend enforcement of the act if any identified highly impacted community is subjected to increased electric rates as a result of the act.

Prohibits new electricity transmission infrastructure from being constructed in highly impacted communities.

Requires the department of ecology to repeal the Clean Air Rule and associated requirements in reporting of emissions of greenhouse gases.

Repeals the energy independence act on January 1, 2020.

Expresses legislative intent to change the law if Washington falls out of the top five ranking among states for lowest average cost of electricity.

Outlaws the generation or supply of electricity generated with a resource built with or containing materials sourced from countries with a history of violations of employment-related laws and incidents of slavery, peonage, or human trafficking.

Prohibits permit approval that would result in the elimination of nonemitting electric generation or a renewable resource unless and until replacement power is available.

Declares intent of the legislature to provide flexible tools to address the variability of hydropower for compliance under this act.

Requires each electric utility to use clean energy resources to meet any new energy or capacity need for Washington retail electric customers beginning January 1, 2029. Allows an electric utility to procure one or more natural gas- fired generation units if such natural gas-fired generation is necessary to avoid potential conflicts with or compromises to the electric utility's obligation to comply with mandatory and enforceable reliability standards. Provides a sales and use tax exemption for personal property, labor, and services used for carbon reduction investments at, or to offset the greenhouse gas emissions of, an energy-intensive trade- exposed facility. Provides a sales and use tax exemption for machinery equipment, labor, and services used to reduce greenhouse gas emissions associated with the transportation of gas through a gas pipeline. Provides a public utility tax deduction for light and power businesses in an amount equal to the cost of production of electrical energy or gas produced from renewable resources generated by new facilities on which construction or installation begins after January 1, 2020, and before January 1, 2028. Provides a public utility tax credit for persons who reduce their greenhouse gas emissions through carbon reduction investment projects. Provides a business and occupation tax credit or public utility tax credit for certain energy-intensive trade-exposed businesses and for persons who sell natural or manufactured gas, electricity, timber, timber products, wood products, or agricultural products for forest fire risk reduction activities.

Specifies that the Department of Commerce and the Utilities and Transportation Commission must adopt rules defining requirements, including appropriate specification, verification, and reporting requirements, for retail electric load met with market purchases and the Western Energy Imbalance Market or other centralized market administered by a market operator for the purposes of the Washington Clean Energy Transformation Act. Makes a sales and use tax exemption for solar energy systems capable of generating less than 100 kilowatts AC effective July 1, 2019, rather than January 1, 2020. Makes changes to documentation requirements and rule-making timelines for the Department of Labor and Industries under the sales and use tax preference for certain alternative energy systems. Makes technical changes.

Mends the definition of "energy assistance" such that it includes monetary assistance such as a grant program or discounts for lower income households, rather than including a separate rate class.

Removes provisions restricting the use of hydroelectric generation to satisfy the requirements of the Greenhouse Gas Neutral Standard and the Clean Energy Standard.

Removes the emergency clause and replaces it with a referendum clause.

Requires each electric utility to provide to the Department of Commerce or the Utilities and Transportation Commission, rather than to disclose to its retail electric customers, its greenhouse gas content calculation. Requires a utility's greenhouse gas content calculation to be based on the fuel sources it reports and discloses in compliance with statutory fuel mix disclosure requirements. Eliminates the requirement that the Department of Commerce incorporate by rule the greenhouse gas content calculation into the power source or fuel mix disclosure.