Puget Sound Energy details clean‑energy timeline and battery targets; council and residents raise safety and siting concerns

Robert Knoll, senior government affairs representative for Puget Sound Energy (PSE), told the Sedro‑Woolley City Council that Washington’s Clean Energy Transformation Act (CETA) sets binding benchmarks that are driving a rapid change in how PSE sources and stores electricity.

Knoll outlined the law’s milestones — the company expects a major emission milestone in 2025 when an out‑of‑state coal facility serving the region will be retired, a target of roughly 80% non‑emitting supply by 2030 and a statutory goal of 100% non‑emitting supply by 2045 — and described the scale of new generation and grid work PSE says will be necessary to meet those requirements.

“Since 2019 when CETA passed, we’ve procured and are operating 3,800 megawatts of clean energy,” Knoll said. He described an all‑of‑the‑above procurement strategy that includes renewables, hybrid thermal peaking resources and storage. Knoll said PSE has issued multiple…