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Avista outlines goal to serve 80% of Washington customers renewable energy starting in 2022

Avista Utilities submitted a plan to state regulators Friday outlining its efforts to transition to clean energy. (TYLER TJOMSLAND/The Spokesman-Review)
By Amy Edelen amye@spokesman.com(509) 459-5581

Avista Utilities has filed a plan with state regulators that describes its goals and progress toward clean energy.

The Spokane-based subsidiary of Avista Corp. filed the Clean Energy Implementation Plan, or CEIP, on Friday with the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission.

The plan, required by the state’s Clean Energy Transformation Act, outlines the utility’s actions in transitioning to clean energy through 2025.

In the plan, Avista indicated it will serve 80% of its customers in the state with renewable energy beginning in 2022. It will increase that number by 5% every two years.

The utility is planning to sell a portion of its renewable energy credits on behalf of customers through 2029. Avista estimated selling renewable credits should lower rates by 1% each year.

Avista also set a goal to reduce customer load by 2% over the next four years through incentives and programs to lower energy use. It has proposed a Named Communities Investment Fund, which if approved, would invest $5 million annually in projects, programs and initiatives to benefit customers in disadvantaged and vulnerable communities.

The state’s Clean Energy Transformation Act requires electric supplies to be greenhouse gas neutral by 2030 and generated from zero-carbon resources by 2045.

“Our own clean energy goals and those set forth in CETA are ambitious, but we are committed to finding a path to get there in a way that balances reliability and affordability,” said Jason Thackston, Avista’s senior vice president of energy resources, in a news release.

“This CEIP includes benchmarks created with customer input that has been invaluable to this process and helps ensure we are benefiting all our customers.”

In 2019, Avista announced its goal to serve its customers with completely 100 percentclean electricity by 2045 and to have a carbon-neutral supply of electricity by the end of 2027. More than half of Avista’s current electric power generation is from clean hydropower, biomass, wind and solar.