Washington Administrative Code › Title 480 - Utilities and Transportation Commission › Chapter 480-100 - Electric companies › Part VIII - PLANNING AND IMPLEMENTATION › Section 480-100-655 - Public participation in a clean energy implementation plan (CEIP)

Current through Register Vol. 24-14, July 15, 2024
(1)
Advisory
				groups.
The utility must demonstrate and document how it considered
				input from advisory group members in the development of its CEIP and biennial
				CEIP update. Examples of how the utility may incorporate advisory group input
				include: Using modeling scenarios, sensitivities, and assumptions advisory
				group members proposed and using data and information supplied by advisory
				group members as inputs to plan development. As part of this process and
				consistent with (i) of this subsection, the utility must communicate to
				advisory group members about whether and how the utility used their input in
				its analysis and decision-making, including explanations for why the utility
				did not use an advisory group member's input.
(a) The utility must involve all advisory
				groups in the development of its CEIP and its biennial CEIP update, including
				the equity advisory group identified in (b) of this subsection.
(b) The utility must maintain and regularly
				engage an external equity advisory group to advise the utility on equity issues
				including, but not limited to, vulnerable population designation, equity
				customer benefit indicator development, data support and development, and
				recommended approaches for the utility's compliance with WAC
				480-100-610(4)(c)(i). The utility must encourage and include the participation
				of environmental justice and public health advocates, tribes, and
				representatives from highly impacted communities and vulnerable populations in
				addition to other relevant groups.
(c) The utility must convene advisory groups,
				with reasonable advance notice, at regular meetings open to the public during
				the planning process. A utility must notify advisory groups of company and
				commission public meetings scheduled to address its CEIP and biennial CEIP
				update.
(d) Engaging with advisory
				groups for the purposes of developing the CEIP does not relieve the utility of
				the obligation to continue to convene and engage these groups for their
				individual topical duties. This section does not supersede existing rules
				related to those groups.
(e)
				Nothing in this section limits the utility from convening and engaging public
				advisory groups on other topics.
(f) Participation in an advisory group does
				not restrict groups and individuals from commenting on CEIP filings before the
				commission.
(g) The utility must
				make available completed presentation materials for each advisory group meeting
				at least three business days prior to the meeting. The utility may update
				materials as needed;
(h) The
				utility must make all its data inputs and files used to develop its CEIP
				available to the commission in native file format and in an easily accessible
				format. The utility may make confidential information available by providing it
				to the commission pursuant to WAC
				480-07-160.
				The utility should minimize its designation of information in the CEIP as
				confidential. Nonconfidential contents of the CEIP, biennial update, and
				supporting documentation as well as nonconfidential data inputs and files must
				be available for advisory group review in an easily accessible format upon
				request. Nothing in this subsection limits the protection of records containing
				commercial information under
				RCW
				80.04.095.
(i) As part of the filing of its CEIP and
				biennial update with the commission, the utility must provide a summary of
				advisory group comments received during the development of its CEIP and
				biennial update and the utility's responses, including whether issues raised in
				the comments were addressed and incorporated into the final CEIP as well as
				documentation of the reasons for rejecting public input. The utility must
				include the summary as an appendix to the final CEIP. Comments with similar
				content or input may be consolidated with a single utility
				response.