This bill adds new law and amends existing statutes to regulate so-called "emerging large energy use facilities" by adding and revising definitions in RCW 19.29A.010 and by adding several new sections to chapter 19.29A RCW. It requires electric utilities that serve or plan to serve such facilities to adopt an "emerging large energy use facility" tariff or policy, establishes review and approval procedures (investor‑owned utilities submit to the Utilities and Transportation Commission by October 1, 2026 with a 10‑month review; consumer‑owned utilities submit to their governing body by the same date with a 10‑month approval requirement), and allows consumer‑owned utilities to refuse service under specified reliability, affordability, or legal authority grounds. The bill prescribes substantive elements that tariffs and contracts must include: a minimum 10‑year contract term with financial protections (collateral, exit fees, infrastructure‑cost recovery), charges that cover full costs to serve, requirements for timely and verifiable operational and power‑supply information, curtailment/load reduction during declared energy emergencies (including at BPA request), pricing that reflects cost causation (including possible dynamic pricing), and rules ensuring marginal load participates in demand response or funds peak reduction costs. It requires sustainability reporting, annual reporting of water/energy/cooling/emissions data to the Department of Ecology, interconnection disclosure of parallel service requests in other balancing authorities, and phased renewable/nonemitting electricity certification for facilities commencing after July 1, 2026 (at least 80% eligible generation by 2031 and 100% by 2036 using RECs retired to a WREGIS subaccount). Facilities beginning operation on or after August 1, 2027 must accept an approved tariff before receiving service; earlier facilities have deadlines and transition rules through January 1, 2028. The bill also amends RCW 70A.65.120 to change allowance allocation procedures for the emissions allowance program by excluding emerging large energy use facilities from mitigation allocations beginning in the second compliance period and prohibiting mitigation allocations for such facilities for allowances distributed starting in 2026 (for 2027 emissions). It requires utilities to report lists and forecasts of such customers to the department starting in 2026, establishes an annual fee of $0.005 per kWh due July 1, 2026 to the Department of Revenue with proceeds split (60% to specified low‑income energy programs and readiness upgrades and 40% to the Student Achievement Council for higher education workforce and related programs), and requires certain behind‑the‑meter construction projects to use prime/subcontractor arrangements with project labor/community workforce agreements, prevailing wages, and apprenticeship utilization. The act is primarily regulatory and procedural (creating new compliance, reporting, tariff, allocation, fee, and labor procurement requirements); it does not, in the provided text, create new criminal penalties. Important implementation standards referenced in subsections (4) and (5), the full statutory definition in section 2, the identity of one referenced "department," and some mid‑section text are not included in the extracted material and therefore are uncertain from these excerpts.

If enacted, large new electricity customers like data centers (defined as facilities with contracts of 20 megawatts or more under NAICS 518210) would face new upfront obligations and ongoing costs: utilities must use published tariffs with at least 10-year contracts, collateral, infrastructure-cost-recovery charges, exit fees, requirements to provide detailed operational and load information, curtailment rules during emergencies, and pricing that can include real-time or dynamic rates. Facilities starting service after August 1, 2027 must accept an approved tariff before service, earlier facilities must be brought under a tariff by January 1, 2028, and owners must publish sustainability reports, annually report water/cooling/energy/emissions data, meet phased clean-energy procurement targets (at least 80% from eligible post-2026 generation by 2031 and 100% by 2036 using RECs retired in WREGIS), and pay an annual fee of $0.005 per kWh beginning July 1, 2026. Behind-the-meter energy projects for these facilities will also be required to use project labor or community workforce agreements with prevailing wages and apprenticeship rules, which will raise construction labor costs. The utilities, regulators, and other customers are also affected: investor-owned utilities must file tariffs with the Utilities and Transportation Commission by October 1, 2026 (consumer-owned utilities must submit to their governing bodies by the same date), utilities can refuse service if a facility would harm reliability or affordability for other ratepayers, and utilities must report forecasts of such customers annually starting 2026. The bill redirects some climate program and allowance benefits away from these large users (they are excluded from certain no‑cost allowance mitigation starting in the second compliance period and for allowances tied to 2027 emissions), and fee revenues are earmarked 60% for low‑income energy programs and 40% for higher education workforce programs. Key implementation details remain unclear from the provided text—specifically the exact approval standards utilities must meet, the full definition of “emerging large energy use facility,” and which state department handles some reporting and rulemaking—so timing and administrative burdens could vary once those parts are clarified.