HB1767– Allows public electric utilities to fund outreach and investment to convert customers’ equipment from fossil fuels to electricity if they have approved plans establishing that will provide net benefits to the utility.
Prime Sponsor – Representative Ramel (D; 40th District; Whatcom County.) (Co-Sponsors Representatives Macri, Berry, Dolan, Fitzgibbon, and Ryu – Ds) (By request of the Governor.)
Current status – Passed out of committee January 20th. Referred to Rules; still there at cutoff.
Next step would be – Dead bill.
Legislative tracking page for the bill.
SB5666 is a companion bill in the Senate.

In the House –
Had a hearing in the House Committee on Environment & Energy January 18th.

Summary –
The bill would allow public electric utilities to adopt a targeted electrification plan after public comment, establishing that the sum of the benefits of an option for electrifying its residential and commercial customers’ gas or wood equipment would equal or exceed the sum of its costs. (These utilities would still be authorized to offer incentives and programs to accelerate the electrification of homes and buildings if that were in their direct economic interest.)

The benefits they consider may include system impacts, as well as:
(i) Utility revenue from increased retail load;
(ii) Distribution and transmission system efficiencies resulting from demand response or other load management opportunities associated with the increased load, including direct control and dynamic pricing;
(iii) System reliability improvements;
(iv) Indoor and outdoor air quality benefits to existing and future customers;
(v) Reductions in customers’ greenhouse gas emissions, taking into consideration the utility’s obligations under the cap and invest act and the State’s greenhouse gas emissions limits;
(vi) Public health benefits, such as resilience in dealing with extreme heat and wildfire smoke for low-income customers, highly impacted communities, and vulnerable populations.
The analysis may differentiate the benefits and costs for low-income customers, highly impacted communities, and vulnerable populations in their service area.

The costs they consider must include:
(i) The electricity, which must be demonstrated to have a lower greenhouse gas emissions profile than direct use of natural gas or any other resources that might be used to serve or offset the load from electrification during the life of the equipment;
(ii) Any upgrades to the utility’s distribution or transmission system or load management practices and equipment made necessary by the increased load; and
(iii) The cost of any incentives, advertising, or other inducements used to encourage customers to electrify a use served by a different fuel.

After adopting a plan, a public utility would be authorized to offer incentives and establish other programs to accelerate the targeted electrification of homes and buildings, including the promotion of electrically powered equipment, advertising programs and projects, educational programs, and customer incentives or rebates. A utility offering these incentives and programs would be required to prioritize service to vulnerable populations and highly impacted communities, and to ensure that all customers were benefiting from the transition to clean energy through the equitable distribution of energy and non energy benefits and the reduction of burdens to vulnerable populations and highly impacted communities including long-term and short-term public health and environmental benefits; reduction of those costs and risks; and energy security and resiliency.