In the future, energy generation must move closer to the end user, Rep. John McCoy, D-Tulalip, said Wednesday during the final panel discussion at AWB's Legislative Day in Olympia.
Whether it's called alternative energy, green energy or some other name, distributing generating stations need to be located closer to people.
"We can only string so much grid," McCoy said during the Environmental Issues panel.
Fellow panelist Rep. Larry Haler, R-Richland, spoke about the need for new nuclear power plants throughout the U.S., and at Washington's Hanford Nuclear Reservation outside the Tri-Cities.
The world is experiencing something of a "nuclear renaissance," Haler said, noting that 63 new power plants are slated to come online throughout the world in the next decade including nine this year, but none in the U.S.
A new kind of "modular" reactor is particularly promising; he described a plant capable of producing 45 mega-watts of power and costing just about $2 billion to build compared to $10 or $12 billion to build an equivalent non-nuclear plant.
"I'm looking forward to using the Hanford site to test that technology," he said.
In addition to the two lawmakers, the panel included Tony Usibelli, assistant director of the energy policy division of the state Department of Commerce.
Usibelli spoke about the plan to update the state's energy strategy for the first time since 1993. The process will likely be similar to the one used in the earlier update, he said.
That one included an advisory council of approximately 20 to 25 people made up of representatives from the business community, consumer advocates, energy industry, local governments and state legislators.
SB 6421, which addresses the update, lays out that basic configuration, he said.
The panelists also discussed:
- Initiative 937 -- McCoy noted that legislation he proposed this year related to the controversial voter-approved initative died last week. HB 3034 sought to make a number of modifications to I-937, which McCoy said needs to allow for more technologies. He bristled at suggestions he does not care about rate payers, saying that new technologies cost more at first but costs will drop over time.
- Haler said he believes hydroelectric power should have been included as a renewable resource under I-937 rather than being counted as part of the state's baseload of power. Doing so "sullied the reputation of hydro that it's not a renewable (energy source) overall," he said.
- The future of "green jobs." Haler called himself a "contrarian" in regard to the term, which he believes is a buzzword. "We need to focus on creating jobs," he said. "If they happen to be green, so much the better."
