House committee advances substitute HB 1847 to encourage distributed energy resources

A House committee voted to advance Substitute House Bill 1847, approving the substitute as reported out of committee with a due-pass recommendation by an announced margin of 18 ayes to 3 nays.

The bill, described during committee discussion as aimed at expanding distributed energy resources across the state, attracted support for its potential to place generation closer to users and to improve local resilience. Chair D'Oleo told the panel, "This bill is really aimed at ensuring that we are doing everything possible to to build distributed energy resources, in all parts of our state, but it's a particular opportunity for Western Washington to pick up, our share of the needed energy." Chair D'Oleo added that on-site resources can reduce the need for "significant transmission development" and can add resiliency during extreme weather.

Representative Dye praised the chair's stakeholder work while signaling reservations about how the bill treats solar on farmland. "The goal that she and I discussed this summer was that how do we get more solar on built spaces and take advantage of those areas where lands have been disturbed and in the urban environment closer to the, to the users," Dye said. Dye also said members on her side "will be a mixed vote" because although "agrivoltaics is popular, it is still, working off of, farmland" and can make it difficult to restore farmland post-project. She urged separating agricultural siting and protections into a distinct policy discussion.

Committee staff called roll and recorded multiple individual votes during the meeting transcript. The transcript records several members voting aye and records three members voting "no without recommendation." Staff later summarized the committee result as 18 ayes and 3 nays and announced, "By your vote, substitute house bill 1847 as reported out of committee with the due pass recommendation, and we are adjourned."

Votes recorded explicitly in the transcript include no-votes by Representative Clicker and Representative Mendoza (each recorded as "no without recommendation"/"nay without recommendation"). Representative Dolio is recorded in the roll call portion with both an early affirmative remark and a later "nay without recommendation" in the transcript; staff's final announcement of the tally is reported above. Several representatives are recorded voting aye in the transcript, including Representative Hunt, Representative Abarneau, Representative Abel, Representative Barnard, Representative Berry, Representative Doer, Representative Fi, Representative Fitzgibbon, Representative Kloba, Representative Lee, Representative Mena, Representative Ramel, Representative Stearns, Representative Street, Representative Stevie, Representative Wiley and Representative Ybarra.

Discussion in committee focused on making it easier to site distributed solar and other distributed energy resources in urban areas where demand is high and on concerns about impacts to farmland where agrivoltaic systems are proposed. Representative Dye recommended treating agricultural-specific policies separately so that protections and sideboards for producers can be negotiated outside this bill.

The committee's approval sends the substitute bill forward with a due-pass recommendation; the transcript does not specify the bill's next floor or calendar step. The committee record shows support for expanded local solar siting and a desire among some members to pursue a separate agricultural policy to address farmland restoration and producer protections.