Bill > SB6121

This bill aims to ensure that the costs and risks associated with providing electricity to large energy-consuming facilities, such as data centers, are borne by those facilities themselves, rather than by residential, small commercial, or existing industrial customers. It defines a "large energy use facility" as one that uses or can use 20 megawatts or more of electricity. The bill mandates that by June 30, 2027, regulatory bodies (the commission for investor-owned utilities and the department for consumer-owned utilities) must develop separate tariff schedules for these large facilities. These tariffs must either proportionally allocate or directly assign the costs of serving these facilities to them, and must also protect other customers from unwarranted cost increases. Beginning January 1, 2028, electric utilities will be required to enter into contracts with large energy use facilities for electricity service, with these contracts being at least 10 years long and including provisions for minimum payments based on projected usage. The bill also includes reporting requirements for the department on trends related to large energy users, with a sunset clause for this reporting section in 2036.

Agriculture and Natural Resources

https://app.leg.wa.gov/billsummary?BillNumber=6121&Year=2025&Initiative=false