(The Center Square) – As Puget Sound Energy was urging its customers to reduce their use of electricity and natural gas to ease demand on the grid, Washington lawmakers planned to revive a bill introduced last session that could allow the state’s largest utility provider to no longer offer natural gas.
This weekend, Rep. Beth Doglio, D-Olympia, sent out an email to dozens of legislators and stakeholders regarding a draft striking amendment to her bill House Bill 1589. Introduced last year, it would have banned PSE from connecting new natural gas lines to new residential or commercial buildings starting in the summer of 2023. However, the bill failed to clear the Legislature and has been returned to the House floor and placed on third reading.
The draft striking amendment strips numerous provisions from the original bill, including the ban on future natural gas as well as a requirement that PSE own 50% of its clean energy sources.
Doglio wrote in her email that “none of those provisions are coming back in this bill.” Yet, she added that Section 10 of the bill “is intentionally left blank because I would like to continue the discussion about PSE’s obligation to serve natural gas as we approach 2050.” Under state law, utilities like PSE that offer natural gas have an obligation to provide that service upon request by a customer, except under certain circumstances.
Building Industry Association of Washington Managing Director of External Affairs Jan Himebaugh told The Center Square that discussions about limiting or restricting natural gas are inappropriate at a time when utilities are already struggling to meet demand.
“We need to be adding reliable sources of energy to our system,” she said. “We want to make sure that the energy needs and the needs of the people of Washington are taken into account and our energy grid is fully stable before we decide to cut a reliable source of energy to homes and businesses in our state.”
Writing in reaction to the state’s low temperatures, University of Washington Atmospheric Sciences professor Cliff Mass argued in a recent blog post that “natural gas, a very clean source of heat, is still acutely needed and attempts to reduce supply or to prevent gas heating in buildings are highly irresponsible as well. And keep in mind that the energy problem will only get worse as the regional population grows and more folks buy electrically powered vehicles.”
Senate Republican Leader John Braun, R-Centralia, wrote in a press release statement that “this weekend’s energy alerts should serve as a reminder that public policy matters when it comes to our state’s energy system.”
