Clark PUD’s staff is recommending approval after behind-the-scenes negotiations with developers of eight different renewable energy projects.
This is not a done deal, Clark PUD Spokesman Mick Shutt said. We are recommending that they do it, but they do have options.
Clark PUD was seeking developers of renewable-energy projects after approval in 2006. The law requires the state’s large utilities to get 15% of their power from renewable sources such as wind and solar by 2020, after step-up requirements in 2012 and 2016.
Obviously, some utilities have not made very strenuous moves toward meeting their renewable requirement, said Marc Krasnowsky, communications director for the NW Energy Coalition in Seattle. I’ve been hearing developers saying, We really need that certainty for the standard going forward or we’ll have to consider taking our investment dollars elsewhere.’
That amounts to a 4.8% increase to Clark’s current $353 million annual budget for electricity, which the utility splits among fixed-price purchases from the Bonneville Power Administration, the output of its own gas-fired River Road Generating Plant and the open market.
At some point, between this and Bonneville’s projected increase, there is definitely pressure on retail rates, Shutt said.
