Source: James Conca, Forbes, Feb 27, 2020
On January 15, the Washington State Senate voted 26-23 to pass SB 5811, that essentially mandates that automakers dedicate a certain portion of their vehicle sales in the state to fully electric vehicles (EVs) by 2022, and that all new vehicles sold in the state must be electric by 2030.
At the same time, our House passed HB1110, a Low Carbon Fuel Standard that pushes us to get rid of petroleum fuels in cars and trucks. Washington State also passed the Clean Energy Transformation Act (CETA) which commits Washington State to an electricity supply free of greenhouse gas emissions by 2045.
So, the state is pretty committed to decarbonizing by mid-century. But while Washington State already has the lowest carbon footprint of any state with 86% hydro, nuclear and wind as our electricity generation, transportation has not changed at all, and is the biggest problem from the standpoint of carbon emissions. And is even harder to address.
So some utilities are scrambling to adjust while others are leading the electrification transition. But they all need help.