(The Center Square) – Washington residents and businesses reliant on Puget Sound Energy, the state’s largest utility provider, for natural gas could have it discontinued under a revised version of a bill that cleared the state House of Representatives last month.
House Bill 1589 introduced last year by Rep. Beth Doglio, D-Olympia, would have had PSE barred from offering natural gas to new residential or commercial buildings starting in July 2023 and guaranteed the utility a certain ownership percentage of its clean energy portfolio.
An amended version of that bill cleared the House in a 52-44 vote and is now in the Senate Committee on Environment, Energy & Technology, where a striking amendment proposed by Chair Joe Nguyen, D-White Center, is under consideration. Under the current version, the natural gas ban has been removed along with the ownership percentage guarantee.
While proponents of the bill say it would enable PSE to meet the state’s various carbon reduction and clean energy goals, critics warn that in some ways it’s even worse than an explicit ban with a specific timeline.