This bill creates the Washington electric transmission authority as a new public body and instrumentality of the state and adds a new chapter to Title 43 RCW. It establishes a 10‑member board of directors with specified appointment, term, meeting, voting, conflict‑of‑interest, and public‑meetings requirements, requires the board to hire an executive director by June 30, 2027, and directs the Department of Commerce to provide administrative and staff support and to identify high‑priority transmission corridors (using a WTEC 10‑year report and awaiting the WTEC 20‑year report) by October 30, 2027. The authority is directed to prioritize statewide electric transmission reliability and expansion, to pursue partnerships and nonwire alternatives, to collaborate with utilities, tribes, labor, jurisdictions, neighboring states and federal entities, and to support community microgrids, distributed resources, conservation, and economic development. The act sets substantive powers and procedures for the authority: its primary mode is to facilitate projects through partnerships with qualified transmission developers and utilities, with ownership by the authority allowed only as a last resort and subject to published public‑purpose and divestment plans; it may enter contracts, solicit and expend gifts and federal assistance, select qualified builders, and proceed with eminent domain after reasonable negotiation and board approval under chapter 8.04 RCW. Transmission service on authority‑owned facilities is generally required to be offered under transmission tariffs administered by entities jurisdictional to FERC, subject to FERC terms, except where partner agreements (including with BPA or non‑FERC utilities) provide otherwise. The authority must consult affected retail and transmission utilities in advance, adopt rules for various selection, fee, and sale processes, ensure prevailing wage and apprenticeship standards for construction, charge a $5,000 application review fee for partnership services, and report activities and financial statements to the governor and legislature beginning December 1, 2027, then annually. The bill creates an electric transmission capital account in the state treasury for proceeds, fees, interest, transfers, gifts, and appropriations related to authority projects, and limits spending from that account to appropriation; it requires payments in lieu of property taxes for authority‑owned facilities that are otherwise exempt, with amounts determined in good faith with counties or by binding arbitration if necessary. It makes specified critical energy infrastructure and proprietary information confidential and reenacts and amends RCW 43.84.092 to establish a treasury income account and a monthly earnings distribution scheme (including proportionate shares to many named accounts, with the electric transmission capital account included), sets OFM and state treasurer roles for CMIA federal cash management and payments for purchased banking services, and prescribes timing and ordering for CMIA refunds and distributions. Legally, this is a new statutory program creating an agency and new accounts, with procedural changes for corridor planning, procurement, ownership, and financing, and amendments to existing treasury statutes. Important text is missing from the provided extracts (the remainder of Sec. 5, portions of Secs. 6 and 9, detailed amendments to RCW 43.84.092, and other funding, bonding, permitting, enforcement, or rate provisions), so additional provisions and details may exist in parts of the bill not included here.

If enacted, Washington would create a new statewide electric transmission authority that will actively identify high‑priority transmission corridors, partner with utilities and developers to build them, and in limited cases acquire and own transmission assets. The authority is set up quickly: a 10‑member board must be in place by Jan. 1, 2027 and hire an executive director by June 30, 2027, the Department of Commerce must identify corridors by Oct. 30, 2027 using WTEC reports, and the authority must begin reporting activity and finances by late 2027. Practically this means more centralized, state‑led coordination of large transmission projects, new upfront application fees ($5,000 per applicant), confidential handling of critical infrastructure information, and a dedicated electric transmission capital account that can be funded by sales, fees, grants, appropriations and interest to pay project costs. The people and budgets most affected will be utilities and independent transmission developers (who will be invited into partnerships and face new selection rules), counties and taxing districts (authority‑owned facilities are tax‑exempt but must pay negotiated payments in lieu of taxes, with arbitration if needed, funded by project partners or lessees), labor and contractors (projects must use qualified electrical workers and apprenticeship participation and meet prevailing wage rules, likely raising construction costs), and ratepayers (the Department must consider ratepayer costs/benefits, though the bill does not set how costs are recovered). State financial managers (OFM and the State Treasurer) will handle new account flows and distribution rules. Key implementation details that affect costs and risk — such as whether the authority may issue debt, exact cost recovery from customers, or the full scope of eminent domain and ownership powers — are not fully shown in the provided text.