(The Center Square) – Initiative 2066, ensuring natural gas remains an energy choice in Washington state, will take effect on Thursday.
Voters approved I-2066 on Nov. 5.
Despite the fast-approaching deadline, members of the Washington State Building Code Council have decided to keep the existing 2021 energy code in effect while the council is “endeavoring to comply with I-2066.”
I-2066 requires utilities and local governments to continue providing natural gas to customers and prevents utilities from restricting access or making it too expensive.
The SBCC voted at its Nov. 22 meeting to address the requirements of I-2066 through its regular rulemaking process, which keeps the existing 2021 energy code in effect until the process is completed.
An email sent to The Center Square from the Department of Enterprise Services, which SBCC falls under, stated, “SBCC has existing responsibilities that were not changed by 2066. We intend to make a good faith effort, through our established process, to achieve the complex and entangled goals with which we have been asked to comply, while minimizing uncertainty in regulation and disruption for the construction industry.”