OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) — A bill giving Washington utilities extra credit for buying power from a proposed solar farm near Cle Elum has failed to advance.
Backers of the Teanaway Solar Reserve had told lawmakers that the project to put 400,000 photovoltaic panels over 900 acres would die without the legislation.
House Bill 1365 passed the House unanimously but failed to clear the Senate by a legislative deadline last week.
The Seattle Times reports the bill sought to amend Initiative 937, which requires large electric utilities to buy 15 percent of its power from renewable sources by 2020. HB 1365 would have given utilities double credit for buying solar power from the Cle Elum project. Environmental groups objected to changing I-937 for the benefit of a single project.
Project backers said they needed the incentive to get utilities to sign power contracts in order to secure financing and begin construction.
