Washington Voters Approve RPS, 51.5 to 48.5

Portland, Oregon [RenewableEnergyAccess.com] With the passage of Initiative Measure No. 937 (I-937), a.k.a. a renewable portfolio standard (RPS), Washington joins 21 other states and the District of Columbia in requiring certain electric utilities to generate a portion of their electricity from renewable sources. I-937 establishes renewable energy targets starting at 3% of a qualifying utility's load by 2012 and escalating to 15% by 2020. Qualifying utilities are those public and private utilities serving more than 25,000 customers in Washington. Of Washington's 62 utilities, 17 would be considered qualifying utilities representing about 84% of Washington's load. Arizona is also on the verge of requiring the state's regulated utilities to have 15% of their power sales come from renewable sources by 2025. Should the Secretary of State certify passage of I-937 on November 28, Stoel Rives intends to host a seminar on December 1, 2006, in Seattle to discuss the implications and implementation of this measure for qualifying utilities, industrial ratepayers, regulators, and developers of renewable energy projects.