Section 480-109-200. Renewable portfolio standard.

(1) Renewable resource target. Each utility must meet the following annual targets.

(a) By January 1st of each year beginning in 2012 and continuing through 2015, each utility must use sufficient eligible renewable resources, acquire equivalent renewable energy credits, or a combination of both, to supply at least three percent of its two-year average load for the remainder of each target year.

(b) By January 1st of each year beginning in 2016 and continuing through 2019, each utility must use sufficient eligible renewable resources, acquire equivalent renewable energy credits, or a combination of both, to supply at least nine percent of its two-year average load for the remainder of each target year.

(c) By January 1st of each year beginning in 2020 and continuing each year thereafter, each utility must use sufficient eligible renewable resources, acquire equivalent renewable energy credits, or a combination of both, to supply at least fifteen percent of its two-year average load for the remainder of each target year.

(2) Credit eligibility. Renewable energy credits produced during the target year, the preceding year or the subsequent year may be used to comply with this annual renewable resource requirement provided that they were acquired by January 1st of the target year.

(3) WREGIS registration. All eligible hydropower generation and all renewable energy credits used for utility compliance with the renewable resource target must be registered in WREGIS, regardless of facility ownership. Any megawatt-hour of eligible hydropower or renewable energy credit that a utility uses for compliance must have a corresponding certificate retired in the utility's WREGIS account.

(4) Renewable energy credit multipliers. The multipliers described in this subsection do not create additional renewable energy credits. A utility may count retired certificates at:

(a) One and two-tenths times the base value where the eligible resource:

(i) Commenced operation after December 31, 2005; and

(ii) The developer of the facility used apprenticeship programs approved by the Washington state apprenticeship and training council.

(b) Two times the base value where the eligible resource was generated by distributed generation and:

(i) The utility owns the distributed generation facility or has purchased the energy output and the associated renewable energy credits; or

(ii) The utility has contracted to purchase the associated renewable energy credits.

(c) A utility that uses a multiplier described in this subsection for compliance must retire the associated certificate at the same time. A utility may not transact the multipliers described in this subsection independent of the associated base value certificate.

(5) Target calculation. In meeting the annual targets of this section, a utility must calculate its annual target based on the average of the utility's load for the previous two years.

(6) Integration services. A renewable resource within the Pacific Northwest may receive integration, shaping, storage or other services from sources outside of the Pacific Northwest and remain eligible to count towards a utility's renewable resource target.

(7) Incremental hydropower calculation.

(a) Method selection. A utility must use one of the following methods to calculate the quantity of incremental electricity produced by eligible efficiency upgrades to any hydropower facility, regardless of ownership, that is used to meet the annual targets of this section. A utility shall use the same method for calculating incremental hydropower production at all of the facilities it owns. Once the commission approves a utility's method for calculating incremental hydropower production, that utility shall not use another method unless authorized by the commission.

(b) Method one. An annual calculation performed by:

(i) Determining the river discharge for the facility in the target year;

(ii) Measuring the total amount of electricity produced by the upgraded hydropower facility during the target year;

(iii) Using a power curve-based production model to calculate how much energy the pre-upgrade facility would have generated under the same river discharge observed in the target year; and

(iv) Subtracting the model output in (b)(iii) of this subsection from the measurement in (b)(ii) of this subsection to determine the quantity of eligible renewable energy produced by the facility during the target year.

(c) Method two. An annual application of a percentage to total production performed by:

(i) Determining the river discharge for the facility over a historical period of at least five consecutive years;

(ii) Using power curve-based production models to calculate the facility's generation under the river discharge of each year in the historical period for the pre-upgrade state and the post-upgrade state;

(iii) Calculating the arithmetic mean of generation in both the pre-upgrade and post-upgrade states over the historical period;

(iv) Calculating a factor by dividing the arithmetic mean post-upgrade generation by the arithmetic mean pre-upgrade generation and subtracting one; and

(v) Multiplying the facility's observed generation in the target year by the factor calculated in (c)(iv) of this subsection to determine the share of the facility's observed generation that may be reported as eligible renewable energy.

(d) Method three. A one-time calculation of the quantity of renewable energy performed by:

(i) Determining the river discharge for the facility over a historical period of at least ten consecutive years;

(ii) Using a production model to calculate the facility's generation in megawatt-hours under the river discharge of each year in the historical period for the pre-upgrade state and the post-upgrade state;

(iii) Calculating the arithmetic mean generation of the pre-upgrade and post-upgrade states over the historical period in megawatt hours; and

(iv) Subtracting the arithmetic mean pre-upgrade generation from the arithmetic mean post-upgrade generation to determine the amount of eligible renewable generation for the target year.

(e) Five-year evaluation. Any utility using method three shall provide, beginning in its 2019 renewable portfolio standard report and every five years thereafter, an analysis comparing the amount of incremental hydropower the utility reported in every year using method three to the amount of incremental hydropower the utility would have reported over the same period using one of the other two methods. If the commission determines that this analysis shows a significant difference between method three and one of the other methods, it may order the utility to use a different method in the future reporting years.

(8) Qualified biomass energy. Beginning January 1, 2016, only a utility that owns or is directly interconnected to a qualified biomass energy facility may use qualified biomass energy to meet its annual target obligation.

(a) A utility may no longer use electricity and associated renewable energy credits from a qualified biomass energy facility if the associated industrial pulping or wood manufacturing facility ceases operation other than for purposes of maintenance or upgrade.

(b) A utility may acquire renewable energy credits from a qualified biomass energy resource hosted by an industrial facility only if the facility is directly interconnected to the utility at transmission voltage. For purposes of this subsection, transmission voltage is one hundred thousand volts or higher. The number of renewable energy credits that the utility may acquire from an industrial facility for the utility's target compliance may not be greater than the utility's renewable portfolio standard percentage times the industrial facility load.

(c) A utility that owns a qualified biomass energy facility may not transfer or sell renewable energy credits associated with qualified biomass energy to another person, entity, or utility.

[Statutory Authority: RCW 80.01.040, 80.04.160, and 19.285.080. WSR 15-07-043 (Docket UE-131723, General Order R-578), § 480-109-200, filed 3/12/15, effective 4/12/15.]

RCW 80.01.040, 80.04.160, and 19.285.080. WSR 15-07-043 (Docket UE-131723, General Order R-578), § 480-109-200, filed 3/12/15, effective 4/12/15.