Rep. Stephanie Barnard’s bill to cut redundancy in electric utility reporting heads to Senate
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Rep. Stephanie Barnard’s bill to cut redundancy in electric utility reporting heads to Senate
Rep. Stephanie Barnard’s bill received unanimous approval from the state House of Representatives today. House Bill 1955 aims to repeal a greenhouse gas content disclosure provision, streamlining the reporting requirements for electric utilities.
Barnard, R-Pasco, expressed the straightforward nature of the bill, stating, “This is a simple, common-sense measure. It addresses a law on our books that imposes a compliance burden that provides no discernible public benefit. This bill removes a duplicate requirement, as utilities are already obligated to report greenhouse gas emissions information to the Department of Commerce.”
HB 1955 seeks to eliminate a specific reporting requirement mandated for electric utilities under the Clean Energy Transformation Act (CETA), Washington’s 100% clean electricity law. This particular provision requires that each utility calculate and disclose the greenhouse gas emissions associated with the electricity supplied to Washington state customers.
Barnard highlighted the duplicative nature of the existing reporting obligations, citing similarities with the Climate Commitment Act (CCA), which also mandates reporting greenhouse gas emissions, but in a slightly different manner. Both serve the same purpose of documenting such information.
Barnard justified the repeal by pointing out that CETA’s standards focus on the percentage of electricity from renewable and non-emitting sources as a measure of compliance. With the enactment of mandatory greenhouse gas reporting requirements under the CCA in 2021, which are considered more rigorous and robust, the calculations under the CETA provision became unnecessary.
“The mandatory reporting requirements established in 2021 fulfill the public’s need for information on greenhouse gas emissions by electric utilities. The redundant calculations under the CETA provision are no longer needed,” Barnard stated.
HB 1955 now heads to the state Senate for further consideration.
