Washington Administrative Code

(1) The commission will not allow expenses for promotional or political advertising for rate-making purposes. The term "promotional advertising" means advertising to encourage any person or business to select or use the service or additional services of an electric utility, to se…

(1) Each electric utility must retain all records and reports for three years unless otherwise specified by the publication referenced in subsection (2) of this section. No records may be destroyed prior to the expiration of the time specified by the publication referenced in sub…

For the purpose of this section:"Securities" means stocks, stock certificates, other evidence of interest or ownership, bonds, notes other than those notes exempted from reporting under RCW 80.08.043, or other evidence of indebtedness, or any obligation or liability as guarantor …

(1) At least five business days before an electric utility whose corporate/issuer rating is not in one of the four highest rating categories of either Standard & Poor's L.L.C. or Moody's Investors Service, Inc., or its subsidiary transfers cash to any of its affiliated interests …

Prior to the effective date of any contract or arrangement described in RCW 80.16.020, each electric utility must file a verified copy or a verified summary, if unwritten, of contracts or arrangements, except transactions provided at tariff rates, with any affiliated interest. Pr…

Before selling, leasing, or assigning any of its property or facilities which are necessary or useful in the performance of its duties to the public, or before acquiring property or facilities of another public utility, an electric utility must obtain from the commission an order…

WAC 480-100-252(1) Each electric utility must use the annual report form (FERC Form No. 1) promulgated by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission in Title 18 of the Code of Federal Regulations, Part 141, for purposes of this report to the commission. Data required by RCW 80.04.0…

(1) Commission basis reports are due within four months of the end of a utility's fiscal year.(2) The intent of the commission basis report is to depict the electric operations of an electric utility under normal temperature and power supply conditions during the reporting period…

Each electric utility that has issued securities must file with the commission an annual securities transaction report. The report is due five months from the end of the utility's reporting period, whether a fiscal or calendar year. At a minimum, the report must contain:(1) A sch…

(1) Each electric utility must file an annual report summarizing all transactions, except transactions provided at tariff rates, that occurred between the utility and its affiliated interests, and the utility and its subsidiaries. The report is due one hundred fifty days from the…

(1) When the annual transactions with a vendor exceed one and one-half percent of total company sales to ultimate customers as reported in the utility's most recent Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) Form No. 1 (or combined Forms No. 1 and No. 2 for combined utilities), …

Within sixty days of the end of each quarter, each electric utility must file a report of actual results for Washington operations. The results of operations report must contain each of the three monthly balances and the latest twelve months' ending balance for all accounts of th…

Under the provisions of RCW 80.04.520, the applicant must certify that the requested approval of lease of utility facilities is necessary to exempt any owner of the facilities from being a public utility company under the Public Utility Holding Company Act of 1935.[Statutory Auth…

A filing for approval of lease of utility facilities must be submitted in the following form:Before The Washington Utilities And Transportation CommissionIn the Matter of the Application of (insert name) for an OrderApproving the Lease of Utility Facilities. No . . . . (Number to…

(1) Subject to the utilities' requirements, customers must provide a place to install the metering equipment that is:(a) Readily accessible to utility employees without risks of bodily harm; and(b) Free from vibration, corrosive atmosphere, and abnormal temperatures.(2) Upon requ…

(1) An electric utility will make no charge for furnishing and installing the meter or meters required to determine the customer's usage for billing of electric service in accordance with the utility's filed tariff. The utility may charge for additional meters requested by the cu…

(1) Electric utilities must use electric meters or other such devices to accurately record or indicate the quantity of electricity sold to customers. Such measuring devices will allow utilities to calculate a customer's consumption in units of kilowatt hours or other units as fil…

Electric utilities must identify each meter by a unique series of serial numbers, letters, or combination of both, placed in a conspicuous position on the meter.[Statutory Authority: RCW 80.01.040 and 80.04.160. WSR 01-11-004 (Docket No. UE-990473, General Order No. R-482), § 480…

All meters must be in good order and adjusted to register as nearly correct as practicable prior to being put into service or returned to service following testing or other work. All meters in service must be sealed by the use of a sealing device acceptable to the commission.[Sta…

(1) Watt-hour meter accuracy.(a) The requirements for watt-hour meters used for measuring electrical quantities supplied include, but are not limited to:(i) All meters must be of proper design for the circuit on which they are used, be in good mechanical and/or electronic conditi…

(1) Electric utilities must include in their tariffs a statement describing their practices under these rules covering:(a) A description of methods used and frequency of tests for determining electric meter accuracy. The description must include, but is not limited to:(i) Test gr…

(1) Electric utilities must keep records showing the history of each meter purchased and installed. Such records must be maintained for the life of the meter plus three months. The forms of such records are subject to commission approval and must contain the following information…

(1) Instrument transformers used in conjunction with metering equipment to measure customers' service must:(a) Be in proper mechanical condition and have electrical insulation satisfactory for the service in which they are used; and(b) Have characteristics such that the combined …

(1) Electric utilities must maintain in reasonable working order all portable indicating electrical instruments used to determine quality of electrical service, such as volt meters, ammeters, and watt meters, and all fixed-location meter testing equipment in use and, if in questi…

Any electric utility supplying alternating current must design and maintain its distribution system for a standard operating frequency of sixty cycles per second under normal operating conditions.[Statutory Authority: RCW 80.01.040 and 80.04.160. WSR 01-11-004 (Docket No. UE-9904…

(1) Voltage means the voltage existing with loads operating under stable conditions. Each electric utility must adopt standard voltages for its different classes of standard voltage service and file these standards with the commission in the form of tariffs.(2) Electric utilities…

(1) Electrical utilities must provide the commission with a written statement of their practices under these rules covering:(a) A description of test standards and meter testing equipment, if maintained by the electrical utility;(b) A description of methods employed to ascertain …

Each electric utility must notify the commission orally or by electronic mail no later than the second business day following discovery of any accident that results in death or serious injury to any person occurring in its plant or through electrical contact with its facilities. …

"Electric service reliability" means the continuity of electric service experienced by retail customers."Reliability statistic" means a number, which may include multiple components (for example, service interruptions, customers, and hours), that measures electric service reliabi…

(1) Who must file. Electric utilities subject to commission jurisdiction must file a plan for monitoring and reporting electric service reliability information to the commission.(2) When to file. The plan for monitoring and reporting electric service reliability information must …

The electric utility must file an electric service reliability report with the commission at least once a year. The report must meet the following conditions:(1) The report must be consistent with the electric service reliability monitoring and reporting plan filed under WAC 480-…

(1) No electrical company may enter into a long-term financial commitment after June 30, 2008, for the supply of baseload generation unless such generation complies with the greenhouse gas emissions performance standard. Electrical companies bear the burden to prove compliance wi…

(1) Any electrical company may apply for a determination by the commission outside of a general rate case of whether an electric generation resource it proposes to acquire as a long-term financial commitment complies with the greenhouse gas emissions performance standard, includi…

(1) An electrical company may apply to the commission for a case-by-case exemption from the greenhouse gas emissions performance standard to address:(a) Unanticipated electric system reliability needs; or(b) Extraordinary cost impacts on utility ratepayers; or(c) Catastrophic eve…

(1) An electrical company may account for and defer for later consideration by the commission costs incurred in connection with a long-term financial commitment for:(a) Baseload electric generation; or(b) An eligible renewable resource as defined in RCW 19.285.030 that the electr…

(1) Purpose. The purpose of this section is to establish requirements for each electric utility to submit periodic reports to the commission of the utility's evaluation of smart grid technologies that are available or likely soon to be available and any plans for implementing sma…

The purpose of these rules is to ensure that the utility meets the clean energy transformation standards outlined in WAC 480-100-610 in a timely manner and at the lowest reasonable cost.[Statutory Authority: RCW 80.01.040, 80.04.160, and chapters 80.28, 19.280, and 19.405 RCW. WS…

The definitions below apply to all of WAC 480-100-600 through 480-100-665."Allocation of electricity" means, for the purposes of setting electricity rates, the costs and benefits associated with the resources used to provide electricity to an electric utility's retail electricity…

(1) On or before December 31, 2025, each utility must eliminate coal-fired resources from its allocation of electricity to Washington retail electric customers;(2) By January 1, 2030, each utility must ensure all retail sales of electricity to Washington electric customers are gr…

(1) Purpose. Consistent with chapters 80.28, 19.280, and 19.405 RCW, each electric utility has the responsibility to identify and meet its resource needs with the lowest reasonable cost mix of conservation and efficiency, generation, distributed energy resources, and delivery sys…

(1) Timing. Unless otherwise ordered by the commission, each electric utility must file an integrated resource plan (IRP) with the commission by January 1, 2021, and every four years thereafter.(2) IRP work plan. No later than 15 months prior to the due date of its IRP, the utili…

(1) The utility must demonstrate and document how it considered input from advisory group members in the development of its IRP and two-year progress report. Examples of how the utility may incorporate advisory group input include using modeling scenarios, sensitivities, and assu…

(1) Filing requirements – General. Unless otherwise ordered by the commission, each electric utility must file with the commission a CEIP by October 1, 2021, and every four years thereafter. The CEIP describes the utility's plan for making progress toward meeting the clean energy…

(1) Public comment. Interested persons may file written comments with the commission regarding a utility's CEIP and biennial CEIP update within sixty days of the utility's filing unless the commission states otherwise. (2) Approval process. The utility's CEIP and biennial CEIP up…

(1) Clean energy compliance report. Unless otherwise ordered by the commission, each electric utility must file a clean energy compliance report with the commission by July 1, 2026, and at least every four years thereafter. The report must:(a) Demonstrate whether and how the util…

(1) Advisory groups. The utility must demonstrate and document how it considered input from advisory group members in the development of its CEIP and biennial CEIP update. Examples of how the utility may incorporate advisory group input include: Using modeling scenarios, sensitiv…

(1) Incremental cost methodology. To determine the incremental cost of the actions a utility takes to comply with RCW 19.405.040 and 19.405.050, the utility must compare its lowest reasonable cost portfolio to the alternative lowest reasonable cost and reasonably available portfo…