Renewable energy initiative to get November vote

OLYMPIA – Voters will get to choose whether to require state utility companies to increase renewable energy sources to 15 percent of their supply by 2020.

Elections officials announced Tuesday that Initiative 937, which would also require utilities to invest in energy conservation programs, qualified for the November ballot.

Supporters say the measure would stabilize rates for electricity customers, offer economic development opportunities for rural communities and add jobs, all while helping lower emissions.

“It sets the stage for us to have a diverse energy mix that’s clean and affordable,” said Bryan Flint, spokesman for the I-937 campaign. “It’s a reasonable measure and it puts the market pressures into place so that investors in solar, wind and biomass know that there’s a steady future for their investments.”

Last month, sponsors submitted more than 337,000 voter signatures for Initiative 937, exceeding the 225,000 valid signatures needed to qualify for the ballot, as well as the cushion that is required to cover duplicate or invalid signatures.

A check of about 10,300 randomly selected voter signatures showed an invalidation rate of about 24 percent. They could have had an invalidation rate as high as 33 percent and still qualified, elections officials said.

Under the initiative, utilities with more than 25,000 customers would have to meet 15 percent of their annual load with resources such as wind power, solar energy or sewage gas.

If the initiative is approved by voters, Washington will join the 20 other states, and the District of Columbia, that have a so-called renewable portfolio standard; Maine has the highest, at 30 percent.

Under current law, utilities are already required to offer customers the option of investing in renewable energy, by paying extra on their monthly bill.

The major utility companies that would be affected by the initiative have opted to take a neutral stand – not opposing it but not campaigning for it either.

Last year, Puget Sound Energy began operating a $200 million wind farm in southeastern Washington and has said it expects to have a second wind farm operating later this year in Kittitas County.

PSE spokesman Roger Thompson said the utility was looking to add even more renewable resources to its portfolio. PSE serves more than 1 million electric customers and more than 700,000 natural gas customers, primarily in the Puget Sound region.

“Our goal is to provide or secure up to 10 percent of our customers’ power supply from renewables by 2013,” he said. “We don’t foresee any problem meeting the targets spelled in the initiative.”