SB6135 – Adds more reporting on reliability to the 100% Clean Electricity Act.
Prime Sponsor – Senator Sheldon (D-Caucusing with Republicans; 35th District; Mason County) (Co-Sponsors Carlyle & Short)
Current status – Referred to the Governor for signature.
In the Senate – (Passed)
Had a hearing in the Senate Committee on Environment, Energy, and Technology January 21st. Substitute by the prime sponsor passed out of committee February 6th; referred to Rules. Passed the Senate unanimously February 17th.

In the House – (Passed)
Referred to the House Committee on Environment and Energy; had a hearing February 25th. Passed out of committee February 27th. Referred to Rules March 28th. Passed by the House March 6th.
Next step would be – Signature by the Governor.
Legislative tracking page for the bill.

Comments –
The substitute adds findings, and completely replaces the original required reporting on the system with a requirement for an annual meeting of stakeholders to discuss the current, short-term, and long-term adequacy of energy resources, and to address specific steps the utilities can take to coordinate planning. The meetings are to be convened by the Department of Commerce and the UTC, and they’re to provide a summary of each of them, including any specific action items, to the Governor and the Legislature.

Summary –
The original bill required a report from the Department of Commerce to the Legislature on system reliability by January 1, 2022, two years ahead of the first full report on the system in the original legislation, and provides for updates every four years after that. (That is, there will now be a full report at least every four years, and an update every four years, in between each of the full reports.)

In addition, the bill would have required Commerce to provide specific recommendations for legislative action if it should determine that risks to the reliability of the system have developed.