U.S. Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler, R-Camas
State Rep. Paul Harris, R-Vancouver
Rob Bernardi, president at Kokusai Semiconductor Equipment Corp.
Jim Short, facilities director at WaferTech
Spencer Leese, attorney for WaferTech
Christa Hammack of WaferTech
Bob Schaefer, attorney for SEH America
Ben Bagherpour, vice president of operations at SEH America
Jeff Ahner of Frito-Lay
Tom Love of Linde Gas
Dave McAlpin of Linde Gas
Neil Fitzpatrick of Pacific Coast Shredding
Robert Seggewiss, plant manager at Great Western Malting
Will Jackson of Great Western Malting
Brad D’Emilio, plant manager at Kyocera Industrial Ceramics
Joe Pasetti, director of government relations at Sharp Electronics
Larry Blaufus, senior manager at Clark Public Utilities
Lynn Latendresse, power manager at Clark Public Utilities
Lisa Nisenfeld president at Columbia River Economic Development Council
When Southwest Washington lawmakers and business representatives met on Wednesday for a roundtable discussion on hydropower, it didn’t take long before someone brought up Initiative 937, which mandates green energy requirements for utilities.
State Rep. Paul Harris, R-Vancouver, mentioned the initiative, calling it the “elephant in the room,” after several roundtable participants spoke about the challenges of complying with energy regulations.
Washington voters approved I-937 in 2006 to require larger utilities to get 15 percent of the power they supply from a renewable source by 2020. Under the initiative, hydropower is not classified as a renewable source of energy.
The initiative spurred the growth of green energy technology in the state, including wind farms, and utilities have complained that the initiative causes them to purchase power they don’t need.