The Energy Independence Act, known as Initiative 937, was approved by Washington State voters in 2006. It requires state electric utilities serving 25,000 or more customers to obtain at least 15 percent of their electricity from new renewable resources by 2020 and undertake all cost-effective energy conservation.
For energy conservation, I-937 requires each covered utility to identify its achievable, cost-effective conservation potential over a 10-year period, starting in 2010-2011. Utilities must update those assessments at least every two years.
Seattle City Light is meeting or exceeding each of these requirements, a seen in excerpts of the report below.
2018-2019 Target Setting
In order to meet the I-937 target setting requirements, City Light used the Utility Analysis Option (Conservation Potential Assessment) to establish its biennial target and ten-year potential. The Conservation Potential Assessment (CPA) identifies City Light’s achievable and cost-effective energy conservation potential over the next twenty years. This study identified a biennial energy conservation potential of 214,620 MWh (24.5 aMW) for 2018-2019 and a ten-year conservation potential of 791,028 MWh (90.3 aMW). The Seattle City Council adopted these targets with Resolution #31765.
2018 – 2019 Achievement
City Light is reporting 286,213 MWh against a target of 214,620 MWh. The energy savings reported are reflective of busbar savings (site savings plus applicable transmission & distribution factor). There is an exception where site savings are being reported; the Residential Energy Savings includes behavior-related programs (OPower/Oracle) that are estimates and are reported as site savings. A formal third-party evaluation of the energy savings will be completed in the near future to substantiate the energy savings.
The NEEA-related energy savings includes the direct savings from SCL’s funding of NEEA and the indirect savings allocated to SCL by BPA.