House committee sends wind-turbine decommissioning bill to amending order

A state House committee voted to send House Bill 387 to the amending order after a floor of testimony and questions about how the state should require and secure wind-turbine decommissioning.

Representative Kevin Andrus, sponsor of House Bill 387, told the committee the bill would require developers to obtain a cost estimate for decommissioning and “put those dollars into a fund at the treasurer's office, so that that money can be used as a guarantee that the remediation will be done at the termination of the contract.” Andrus said the measure is intended to ensure sites are returned toward their prior condition after turbines are removed.

The bill prompted sustained questioning from committee members and testimony from two industry witnesses. Lance Giles, a contract lobbyist for Renewable Northwest, urged the committee to send the bill to general…