Washington regulators conditionally approve Puget Sound Energy’s first Clean Energy Implementation Plan

Puget Sound Energy’s (PSE) first Clean Energy Implementation Plan (CEIP) was approved by the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission this week, setting the company up to serve 63 percent of its electricity sales through clean energy sources by 2025.

This was not without certain caveats and concerns from regulators, who urged the company to consider possible cost-savings provided by federal legislation and a legal need to meet clean energy transformation standards at the lowest reasonable cost. The plan was also deemed to be too general in its assertions. Specificity, regulators stressed, will be critical going forward, and any further submission lacking them could result in outright rejection of the CEIP or levering of penalties against PSE.

Currently, PSE has no strict course plotted for the next four years, a stance it defended by stating that it was waiting for bids in response to requests for proposals. Although the commission declined to reject the plan for this, as it is merely an initial plan required by the Clean Energy Transformation Act (CETA), it said the company could and should address its shortcomings in future filings.

Specifically, the commission ordered PSE to update its specific target for demand response technology, increase support for community solar rather than leasing solar resources and improve its evaluation of utility-scale batteries as a means of meeting demand. A plan containing these updates will need to reach the commission by Nov. 1, 2023, although the next CEIP is not due until 2025.

CEIP plans like this are now required of all regulated utilities in Washington every four years, as part of CETA.