Senate Environment, Energy & Technology Committee advances bills on clean buildings, clean fuels, climate, securitization and captive insurance

The Senate Environment, Energy & Technology Committee on March 19 adopted striking amendments and advanced several bills to the next steps in the legislative process, including measures on clean buildings compliance pathways, changes to the clean fuels program, adjustments to the Climate Commitment Act, authority for utilities to securitize disaster costs, and expanded captive insurance participation.

Staff provided briefings before committee action. Matt Sheppard summarized Substitute House Bill 1543 as authorizing Commerce to adopt additional compliance pathways to meet the state energy performance standard using alternative metrics, expanding exemption criteria (including for K–12 schools and public hospitals under defined conditions) and prohibiting noncompliance penalties from being passed to tenants so long as owners provide tenant access to utility data and spaces. The committee adopted a striking…