It’s time to get serious about solving our state’s energy challenges

For residents of the Pacific Northwest, January 2024 might be memorable because of the winter storm that brought ice and severe cold to the region, leading to major power outages. It might be memorable, but there’s also a good chance you have moved on with little or no recollection of that particular storm amid a jumble of winter memories.

But for anyone who works for an electric or gas utility, the dates Jan. 12-16, 2024, really do stand out. That’s the week in which the region came dangerously close to not having enough energy to keep our homes warm and lights on. The memory of that storm, and the wakeup call that it provided about the urgent need to produce more energy, came up for discussion at the Energy Solutions Summit on Oct. 30 in SeaTac.

The gathering was the first in a series of solutions summits stemming from Washington in the Making 2040, a long-term economic vision for Washington launched in June by the AWB Institute and Washington Roundtable.

Gov. Bob Ferguson kicked off the event, which brought together roughly 200 people from a cross-section of the energy sector, everyone from the CEOs of the region’s largest utilities and representatives from some of the biggest energy customers to state agency leaders and elected officials.

The group spent the first part of the day sharing information about the size and scope of the challenges we face, and the second part of the day brainstorming solutions. Attendees heard loud and clear about the need for more energy and the hurdles that stand in the way, not only for producing it but also getting it to customers. This is not a hypothetical problem that’s going to impact us down the road, but a right-now problem that’s impacting our competitiveness with other states and regions.

And it’s only going to get more urgent. The demand for electricity in Washington is expected to grow four times faster than historical rates in the coming years, driven by a combination of growing population, electric vehicle adoption and data center growth. To meet this demand, Washington must double power plant capacity by 2045.

And if that wasn’t a daunting enough challenge, the state is going to need 35,000 miles of new transmission lines to get all that energy to the end user.

Throughout the day, some themes emerged, including the need for an “all-of-the-above” approach to meeting the state’s future energy needs. That means pursuing new technologies like advanced nuclear and battery storage while also preserving the region’s hydroelectric system. Our network of dams keep our power so much more affordable here than in other parts of the country, and we can’t afford to give that up.

Similarly, speakers noted the importance of natural gas — the region’s No. 2 source of power behind hydro — during the transition to zero-carbon energy sources.

Another theme that emerged was the urgent need for permitting reform to speed up development of new power resources as well as transmission infrastructure.

There’s a lot of work ahead of us, some of which will be captured in a report on the summit due out early next year. But it’s encouraging that so many people understand what’s at stake when we talk about energy.

“If we don’t work together and get this right, we may not be able to meet the energy needs of the state,” said Crystal Ball, executive director of the Northwest Utilities Conference Committee and one of the event speakers. “The last thing we want to do is turn somebody’s lights out.”

Learn more about Washington in the Making 2040 by visiting www.WA2040.org.

Kris Johnson is president of the Association of Washington Business, the state’s chamber of commerce and manufacturers association.