HB2082– Requiring a study of the employment and workforce education needs of the electrical transmission industry.
Prime Sponsor – Representative Fosse (D; 38th District; Everett) (Co-Sponsor Low, R)
Current status – Had a hearing in the House Committee on Post-Secondary Education & Workforce on January 17th. Amended twice and passed out of committee January 23rd; referred to Appropriations.
Next step would be – Scheduling a hearing.
Legislative tracking page for the bill.

In the House –
The  amendments made some changes in the requirements for the report  and recommendations, as well as some changes in the representation in the workgroup and minor changes in its rules.

Summary –
If funds were specifically appropriated for the bill’s requirements, it would have the Department of Commerce or a consultant it selected conduct a study of the employment and workforce education needs of the electrical transmission industry.

A report to the appropriate committees of the Legislature would be due by November 1, 2025, including:
(1) Estimates of jobs needed to expand electrical transmission capacity to meet the state’s clean energy and climate goals;
(2) An inventory of existing training programs and the anticipated need for expanding them or adding others to meet current and future workforce needs;
(3) The numbers of apprentice line workers, line clearance tree trimmers; and substation technicians;
(4) Demographic data for the workforce;
(5) Identification of gaps and barriers to a full electrical transmission workforce pool including the loss of workers to retirement in the next five, 10, and 15 years, and other retention issues;
(6) A comparison of wages between different jurisdictions in the state and between Washington and neighboring states, including any incentives they offer;
(7) Available data on the number of line workers, line clearance tree trimmers; and substation technicians that completed training in the state and left to work elsewhere and on the number of out-of-state workers who come to Washington to meet workforce needs on large scale electrical transmission projects;
(8) Key challenges that could emerge in the foreseeable future based on factors such as growth in demand for electricity and changes in energy production and availability; and
(10) Recommendations for the training, recruitment, and retention of the current and anticipated electrical transmission workforce.
(A preliminary report would be due this November.)

Commerce would also convene a work group by this November to provide advice, develop strategies, and make recommendations on efforts to support the provision of what the industry needs to meet the state’s climate goals. The work group would consist of eight members, four from labor organizations around the state, two from different private utilities, and two from different public utility districts. The work group would review Commerce’s reports and, if appropriate, recommend any changes needed to address issues raised in the reports to the Legislature. It would review the status of the workforce issues periodically, and provide ongoing input and recommendations to the Legislature, state and local agencies, labor, and utilities regarding the needs and challenges of the industry.