2006 Washington Initiative 937

Ballot Initiative 937 (official name Initiative measure no. 937, known as I-937) is a renewable energy initiative passed in the US state of Washington, appearing on the ballot in the November 2006 elections. It passed with 52 percent of the vote.

Content of the proposal

The initiative requires large utilities to obtain 15% of their electricity from new renewable resources such as solar and wind (but excluding hydro) by 2020 with incremental steps of 3% by 2012 and 9% by 2016. It also requires that utilities undertake all cost-effective energy conservation.

Precedents

Similar legislation has been enacted in at least 20 other states including the following. (The table is sorted by date and then by descending percentage. I-937 is included in bold.)

Unless indicated otherwise, data are from

Supporters

Supporters included the following:

Elected officials

• U.S. Senators Maria Cantwell and Patty Murray
• U.S. Congressmen Jay Inslee, Adam Smith, Norm Dicks and Jim McDermott
• State Senators Luke Esser (R), Dave Schmidt (R), Debbie Regala (D), Bill Finkbeiner (R), Erik Poulsen (D), Karen Fraser (D), Craig Pridemore (D), Jeanne Kohl-Welles (D), Karen Keiser (D)
• State Representatives Toby Nixon (R), Zack Hudgins (D), Brian J. Sullivan (D), Fred Jarrett (R), Pat Sullivan (D), Geoff Simpson (D), Rodney Tom (D), Dave Upthegrove (D), Brendan Williams (D)
• King County Executive Ron Sims
• Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels

Civic and political organizations

• League of Women Voters
• Kittitas Valley League of Women voters
• Washington State Democrats
• King County Young Democrats
• Republicans for Environmental Protection, Washington Chapter
• Green Party of Washington State
• Peace Action for Washington

Health organizations

• American Lung Association
• American Cancer Society
• Washington Physicians for Social Responsibility

Energy and labor

• Washington Public Utility Districts Association
• Washington State Labor Council
• United Steelworkers
• SEIU Washington State Council

Environmental

• Denis Hayes, Founder of Earth Day
• NW Energy Coalition
• Audubon Society Washington
• The Mountaineers
• Sierra Club - Cascade Chapter
• Washington Conservation Voters
• Union of Concerned Scientists
• Natural Resources Defense Council
• National Wildlife Federation

Faith

• Earth Ministry
• Lutheran Public Policy Office of Washington
• Washington Association of Churches
• Church Council of Greater Seattle

Newspapers

• The Seattle P-I
• The Olympian
• The Tacoma News Tribune
• The Stranger

Opponents

Opponents included many small co-op electrical providers (even though the initiative affects only utilities with greater than 25,000 customers) as well as the following:

• Big Bend Electrical Cooperative
• Boeing
• Boise Cascade
• Chamber of Commerces: Bellevue, Greater Seattle, Kelso-Longview, Pasco, Spokane Regional, Tacoma-Pierce County, Wenatchee Valley, West Richland Area
• Modern Electric Water Company
• National Association of Manufacturers
• Peninsula Light Company
• PUDs of Benton, Cowlitz, Franklin, Lewis, and Mason County.
• Representatives Brian Blake (D) and Dean Takko (D)
• Senators Jean Berkey (D) and Mark L. Doumit (D)
• Tanner Electric Cooperative
• U.S. Chamber of Commerce
• Washington Farm Bureau
• Washington Rural Electric Cooperative Association
• Weyerhaeuser

Results

By county

References

External links

• Washington’s Primary Energy Consumption by Source (.doc)