Puget Sound Energy on its way to achieving 63% clean energy by 2025
Puget Sound Energy (PSE) has accelerated its effort toward meeting its clean energy goals, announcing this week a new goal of reaching 63 percent clean electricity by the end of 2025 and net zero carbon by 2045.
“The programs and investments laid out in our plan maintain our commitment to providing accessible, reliable and affordable clean energy,” PSE President and CEO Mary Kipp said.
PSE filed its draft plan to achieve those goals with the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission (UTC) in October. Then, in December, PSE filed its final Clean Energy Implementation plan (CEIP), which further defines a course of action for clean electricity programs and investments for the next four years. The plans are in alignment with the policies established by Washington’s Clean Energy Transformation Act (CETA).
The updated plan that projects PSE will have 63 percent clean energy by the end of 2025 is up from 59 percent in the draft plan and 34 percent in 2020. The plan also calls for removing coal as a source of electricity by the end of 2025 and aims to ramp up utility-scale renewable electricity resources like large-scale wind and solar generation. In addition, it calls for nearly doubling the installation of distributed energy resources (DERs) such as solar and battery storage programs. It also creates more ways for customers to save energy and reduce costs through energy efficiency improvements, and it introduces new programs and incentives to reduce or shift energy use during peak times.
“These investments – from ramping up large-scale wind and solar generation, to increasing energy efficiency programs and grid modernization – will help fight climate change while creating clean energy jobs and helping power economic growth,” Kipp said.
Further, it includes a public participation process in energy planning that strengthens community ties and creates solutions that reflect those goals. The company most recently conducted a public comment period from Oct. 18 to Nov. 12, with an emphasis on reaching historically underrepresented populations.
PSE’s final implementation plan is currently under review by the UTC, which will conduct its own public comment period and review process before making a decision on the plan.
