Council approves City Light renewable-plus rules and accepts 190+ distribution easements

Seattle City Council on April 29 passed legislation allowing Seattle City Light to set eligibility rules for customers in the Renewable Plus program and accepted two sets of recorded distribution easements for the utility.

Council member Rink, chair of the Sustainability, City Light, Arts and Culture Committee, told the council the Renewable Plus bill would allow City Light to establish eligibility requirements for customers purchasing bundled renewable energy and renewable energy certificates (RECs). “This legislation authorizes City Light to establish eligibility requirements for customers purchasing in the Renewable Plus program,” Rink said during the committee report. She also noted City Light has executed two power purchase agreements expected to deliver about 210,000 to 230,000 megawatt hours annually from solar projects.

The nut graph: the change removes a fixed 10,000-megawatt-hour aggregated annual consumption threshold from the Seattle Municipal Code and instead permits City Light to include customers with lower consumption if the utility has sufficient renewable resources to serve them. The update preserves the program’s structure, under which City Light purchases new wind or solar generation, pairs energy with RECs, and sells the bundled product to customers seeking to document renewable purchases.

City Light staff and committee materials explain that one REC is issued for each megawatt-hour of renewable generation delivered to the grid and that electricity’s physical properties are indistinguishable regardless of source; RECs provide the accounting to claim renewable attributes. Rink said the department’s recent contracts for solar generation increase the program’s capacity and make broader customer participation possible.

In the same meeting, the council accepted two separate sets of recorded distribution easements required when City Light power lines or service equipment must pass over, under, or through private property or when third-party property must host poles or vaults. Rink said the two easement ordinances clean up easements recorded in King County property records since the prior acceptance ordinance: one ordinance accepts 61 distribution easements and the other accepts 129 platted easements recorded as short plats, lot boundary adjustments, or unit lot subdivisions.

All three bills were adopted as part of the consent calendar and passed on roll call votes. The council president affixed signature authority on behalf of the body.

Council action details and vote tallies are included below.

Ending: The changes give City Light administrative flexibility to expand Renewable Plus participation as new solar supply comes online, while the accepted easements formalize property rights needed to operate and maintain the distribution system.