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FSEC chair urges integrated permitting, warns Washington must add 'firm' generation
Summary
Kurt Beckett, chair of Washington's Energy Facility Site Evaluation Council, called for integrated permitting pathways and asserted the state needs dispatchable 'firm' power alongside renewables to meet projected demand, warning of long lead times and transmission limits.
Kurt Beckett, chair of the Washington State Energy Facility Site Evaluation Council (FSEC), told an AWB audience that FSEC must function as an integrator to speed permitting while balancing environmental and local concerns.
FSEC, Beckett said, is intended as a "single stop" permitting pathway for large energy projects. "The council has to make a recommendation on a site certificate agreement," he said, noting that an approved recommendation goes to the governor and has a limited appeal to the state Supreme Court.
Beckett framed the permitting challenge as both procedural and scale-related. He said some permit packages for solar projects can already be hundreds or thousands of pages and that a typical active review for modest projects can grow to thousands of pages. "There's got to be ways to transform data and make that more actionable in real time at scale," he said, adding that better online tools and document management can help.
On generation types, Beckett emphasized the need for firm, dispatchable power to back renewables, naming geothermal, small modular reactors and other dispatchable sources as part of a mixed portfolio. He referenced Helion's fusion activity near Everett and noted recent state legislation clarifying the distinction between fusion and fission for FSEC decision-making.
Beckett also warned that transmission constraints and staffing or funding issues at the Bonneville Power Administration have ripple effects on Washington's ability to deploy new capacity. He cited an external forecast described during the session that the state faces a multi-gigawatt build—"7 Seattle's worth of generation"—to meet expected demand growth.
Beckett invited collaboration among state agencies, ports and private firms and said FSEC will continue to seek improved transparency and streamlined permitting processes. No formal actions or decisions were taken at the panel.
The panel moved into audience Q&A after these remarks.
