This bill creates a new Washington electric transmission authority as a public body and state instrumentality and adds a new chapter to Title 43 RCW. It establishes a 10‑member board with specified appointment, term, and meeting rules and requires the Department of Commerce to identify high priority transmission corridors by October 30, 2027 and to provide interim administrative support until the authority hires an executive director. The authority’s stated priorities include maintaining or improving electric service reliability, expanding transmission capacity, pursuing nonwire alternatives, assisting upgrades to existing lines, coordinating with utilities and regional markets, supporting distributed resources and microgrids, protecting cultural and natural resources, avoiding impacts to overburdened communities, supporting good jobs, maximizing existing rights‑of‑way, and mitigating wildfire risk. The bill creates new procedures and substantive powers for the authority. The authority must offer transmission service on its facilities under a FERC‑administered tariff except in certain partnership situations; its primary implementation approach is partnerships with transmission developers, and it may originate projects only as a last resort. The authority may adopt rules and operating procedures, enter contracts and partnerships, solicit and expend grants and federal assistance, act as SEPA and tribal consultation lead for partnership projects, lease or acquire property, select qualified transmission builders or operators (definition to be set by rule), sell projects to specified buyers, and, limitedly, exercise eminent domain under chapter 8.04 RCW for land acquisition for new transmission corridors. The authority must charge a $5,000 application review fee for partnership service applicants, adopt rules for local investment commitment fees for high voltage projects that are allocated to affected counties/cities/tribes, comply with apprenticeship and prevailing wage requirements for construction work, and report activities annually to the governor and legislative committees. The act also creates an electric transmission capital account in the state treasury for proceeds, fees, local commitment fees, gifts, and other project revenue, with expenditures allowed only after appropriation and confidentiality protections for critical energy infrastructure information. Separately, the bill reenacts and amends RCW 43.84.092 to establish a treasury income account to receive earnings on invested surplus balances, directs OFM to implement federal Cash Management Improvement Act (CMIA) obligations and permit required transfers/refunds without appropriation, and mandates monthly earnings distributions that credit the general fund with proportionate shares allocated to a broad list of specified accounts and beneficiary permanent funds. Important context is missing from the provided text. A limiting qualification about the authority and “eligible facilities” being exempt from Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission jurisdiction is cut off and incomplete; the bill does not define “eligible facilities” in the excerpts provided. The definition of “qualified transmission builder or operator” is to be set by rule and is not included here. Several sections referenced and long lists of accounts or timing provisions are truncated or rely on other parts of the bill not included in these extracts, so the full scope and some effective/expiration date details cannot be determined from the provided material.

If enacted, the state will stand up a new Washington electric transmission authority that is likely to speed planning and delivery of high‑priority transmission projects by identifying corridors by October 30, 2027, pushing projects into partnerships with utilities and developers, and using state-backed financing tools and a new electric transmission capital account to buy land or support projects when needed. Local governments and federally recognized tribes can expect new local investment commitment fees tied to high‑voltage projects, and applicants for authority partnerships will pay a $5,000 review fee; construction will be done under prevailing wage rules and by contractors using registered apprenticeship programs with minimum completion rates, which will raise labor and compliance costs for developers and contractors. The most affected parties are transmission developers, consumer‑ and investor‑owned utilities, the Bonneville Power Administration, counties/cities/tribes, the Department of Commerce, OFM and the state treasurer. Utilities and developers will gain a new route to finance, build, own, or buy projects (and may face the authority as a market actor that can use eminent domain for new corridors), local governments and tribes can receive fee revenues, and state agencies must provide interim support and make appropriations into the capital account. Key implementation details are missing or cut off in the text—notably limits on the utilities commission’s jurisdiction over the authority, the definition of “eligible facilities,” and full partnership rules—so there will be regulatory and legal uncertainty until those items are clarified.