HB 1847, sponsored by Rep. Beth Doglio (D–Olympia), seeks to expand the development of distributed renewable energy resources (DER) in Washington while minimizing negative impacts on natural habitats, communities, and agriculture. It includes incentives, goals, standards, and limitations on local government’s ability to restrict DER projects.

DERs are small-scale energy projects and programs that include solar generation with accompanying storage, transmission, and distribution; wind generation that is smaller than utility scale (with accompanying storage, transmission, and distribution); stand-alone energy storage; behind the meter demand response, conservation and energy efficiency programs; or demand response programs that include thermal storage.

The bills key objectives are to:

• Encourage renewable energy in low-impact areas.
• Supports small-scale wind and solar energy projects in places like landfills, parking structures, and state-owned buildings.
• Promotes agrivoltaics, where solar panels are installed on farmland while allowing agriculture to continue.
• Utilize state lands and buildings for clean energy.
• Requires state agencies (list provided in Sec. 5 of the bill) to identify and make available suitable state-owned properties for renewable energy projects.
• Encourages cities to identify and develop or make suitable properties available.
• Encourages utilities to incorporate these lower-impact projects into their clean energy goals.
• Streamline renewable energy development.
• Prioritizes distributed energy projects by creating a categorical exemption in SEPA and creating standardized mitigation options.
• Provides incentives for utilities to include small-scale renewable energy in their clean energy targets.

HB 1847 aligns with Washington’s Clean Energy Transformation Act (CETA), which requires the state to transition to 100% clean electricity.

Potential city impacts

1. Land use and planning considerations
   1. Cities may need to update zoning codes and permitting processes to accommodate small-scale wind and solar projects, especially on underutilized urban spaces like rooftops, parking lots, and brownfields.
   2. The bill emphasizes agrivoltaics, meaning cities with agricultural zones may need to adjust land use regulations to balance farming and solar energy production.
   3. Agrivoltaics do not trigger a change of use and are included in the definition of “open space land.”
2. Local economic and revenue impacts
   1. Exempts public properties utilized for these purposes from leasehold excise tax.
   2. Cities could benefit from new revenue streams by leasing municipal properties (such as closed landfills, public buildings, and parking structures) for solar and wind projects.
3. Coordination with state agencies and utilities
   1. State agencies will identify suitable lands for renewable energy projects, and cities may need to collaborate to ensure local alignment.
   2. Utilities are encouraged to integrate distributed energy projects, potentially requiring city coordination for grid planning and interconnection policies.
4. Infrastructure and energy resilience
   1. Distributed energy resources can improve local grid reliability, reducing citywide power outages and increasing resilience to extreme weather.
   2. Cities with municipal utilities may need to adapt their infrastructure to support decentralized clean energy production.
5. Environmental and community impact considerations
   1. Local governments will need to balance environmental protection and community concerns, ensuring that new projects do not disproportionately impact certain neighborhoods.
   2. The project types encouraged in the bill could support city climate action plans.
   3. Utilities are required to establish targets and plan for integration of distributed energy and community solar projects, likely putting upward pressure on customer rates.

Please contact AWC staff with your city’s feedback and suggested improvements to the legislation.

Date to remember

HB 1847 is scheduled for public hearing in the House Environment & Energy Committee on Monday, February 10, at 1:30 pm.