Washington would coordinate new power lines through a state authority

The Department of Commerce must identify high-priority electric transmission corridors. The review covers corridors listed in the coalition's 10-year study and must also consider its planned 20-year study. The department must consider costs and benefits to Washington ratepayers. It cannot finalize the corridors until it reviews the coalition's 20-year report. The department must complete the open process by October 30, 2027.

Washington creates a public electric transmission authority, overseen by a board, to support transmission projects. The authority may coordinate and support intrastate, interstate, and regional transmission projects, including new capacity and upgrades to existing lines. The authority generally works through partnerships with utilities and other developers; it may start a project without a partner only as a last resort and if it will not interfere with or duplicate an active project. The authority may seek land through eminent domain only after board approval and only for land needed for a new transmission corridor for public use. Money in the authority's operating and capital accounts may be spent only after legislative appropriation. The board must be appointed by January 1, 2027, and hire an executive director by June 30, 2027.

The authority must ensure covered project work uses qualified electrical workers and meets prevailing wage rules. These rules apply when the authority selects a builder or operator, finances a project through a partnership, or builds a project itself as a last resort. Contractors and independent developers must use apprentices in registered programs whose completion rate was at least 25 percent over the prior eight years. Electric utilities may perform the work using qualified electrical employees.

The authority must make payments to local governments for certain tax-exempt transmission facilities it owns. Payments go to counties hosting authority-owned facilities that are exempt from property tax, then are distributed among local taxing districts. The payment is negotiated with the county and cannot exceed the property tax that would be owed if the facility were taxable. The authority must collect the payment from a lessee, project partner, or operator; those collected funds are the only funds available for the payment. Payments begin in the first tax year when facility improvements would be assessed if a taxable entity owned the facility, and are due at least annually.