The bill creates new statutory provisions and amends existing law to require utilities to offer discounted rates to school districts and to charter schools and state‑tribal compact schools to the same extent as school districts. It directs consumer‑owned utility governing boards to approve discounted rates and requires that any resulting expenses and lost revenues be included in the utility’s cost of service and recovered in rates charged to other customers. Investor‑owned electric utilities, gas companies, and water utilities must file proposed school discount rate programs with the Utilities and Transportation Commission, which may approve, disapprove, or modify those programs and may act on its own motion or upon request. The bill amends RCW 57.08.005 and RCW 35.92.020, adds new sections to chapter 80.28 RCW and chapter 57.08 RCW, and creates a new chapter in Title 80 RCW. The bill establishes a phased mandatory discount schedule for each gas company, electric utility, and water utility applying to each school district: 10% by January 1, 2027; 20% by January 1, 2028; 30% by January 1, 2029; 40% by January 1, 2030; 50% by January 1, 2031; and 60% by January 1, 2032 and each year thereafter. It also includes municipal and water‑sewer district provisions: authorizing districts to furnish reclaimed water, construct and operate drainage and stormwater systems, require property connections subject to penalties and liens, calculate and collect pro rata connection charges with specified interest and refund rules (including a 15‑year refund requirement if facilities are not built), allow installment payments up to 15 years, permit a $3 annual county treasurer fee on installments, and require notice before adopting on‑site inspection and maintenance utility services. For storm or surface water sewer systems, the bill mandates at least a 10% rate reduction for qualifying new or remodeled commercial buildings using permissive rainwater harvesting systems and repeats the school discount schedule for storm/surface water sewer rates. The act states it is not intended to change minimum per‑student allocations under RCW 28A.150.260. Some statutory text and full details are not available in the extracted facts: the amendment language for RCW 35.92.020 is truncated, the amendment to RCW 57.08.005 is incomplete in the provided material, and the full text of the new chapter added to Title 80 RCW and any additional sections or fiscal and implementation provisions are not present.

If enacted, school districts, charter schools, and state-tribal compact schools would get phased discounts on utility bills (gas, electric, and water/stormwater/sewer) that rise from 10% in 2027 to 60% each year starting in 2032. Consumer-owned utility boards must approve the discounts and water/sewer districts must similarly authorize them, while investor-owned utilities and gas/water companies must propose programs to the Utilities and Transportation Commission for approval; utilities are allowed to count the resulting expenses and lost revenue as part of their cost of service and recover those amounts in rates charged to other customers. This likely means lower operating costs for schools but increased rate pressure on other utility customers and added approval and administrative duties for utility boards and the UTC. Cities and water-sewer districts must also offer at least a 10% stormwater rate reduction for new or remodeled commercial buildings that use rainwater harvesting, and they face new rules on connection charges, notification to property owners, bonding authority, and a requirement to return collected connection funds (with interest) if required facilities are not built within 15 years. These provisions create potential new financial liabilities and administrative responsibilities for districts and municipalities, while benefiting schools and incentivizing rainwater harvesting; key details about how costs are calculated, exact rate-recovery mechanics, and the full new chapter language are not included in the extracted text and remain unclear.