Washington state utilities meet renewable energy goals

Electric utilities in the state of Washington are in compliance with state conservation and renewable energy requirements, according to a recent report from the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission.

As a condition of the state’s Energy Independence Act (EIA), investor-owned electric utilities are required to obtain a certain percentage of their electricity from eligible renewable resources, including wind, solar, and hydropower. So, the three qualifying utilities — Avista, Pacific Power, and Puget Sound Energy — filed reports detailing their renewable portfolios.

For 2018, each utility must supply at least 9 percent of its electric load through renewable sources. The commission determined this week that all three utilities complied with the state renewable resource standard. Each utility must file a final report detailing which resources were used to meet its target.

Companies must obtain 15 percent of their electricity from new renewable resources by 2020, according to the EIA.

Over this most recent two-year period, the companies saved more than 850,000 megawatt-hours of electricity through its conservation programs. PSE saved more than 633,100 megawatt-hours of electricity, Avista saved more than 146,700 megawatt-hours of electricity, and Pacific Power saved about 98,700 megawatt-hours of electricity.

Avista serves more than 240,000 electric and nearly 153,000 natural gas customers in Eastern Washington; Pacific Power provides electric service to about 130,000 customers in Eastern Washington; and PSE provides electricity service to more than 1.1 million electric customers in Island, King, Kitsap, Kittitas, Pierce, Skagit, Thurston, and Whatcom counties.