Victoria Hunt — The Chair welcomes Senator Victoria Hunt as the new member and invites her to introduce herself. Senator Hunt then introduces herself as the newest member of the committee and states that she represents the 5th Legislative District.
Sharon Shewmake — The Chair opens the committee meeting, welcomes attendees, and specifically welcomes Senator Hunt as the new member, inviting her to introduce herself.
Sharon Shewmake — Sharon Shewmake is referenced in a continuous chair-related discussion, first as the chair in an opening greeting and then as an implicit reference in the ongoing legislative discussion, with no direct speech or separate topic shift.
Sharon Shewmake — Joel Criswell greets Chair Shewmake at the start of his briefing.
Sharon Shewmake — The presenter addresses Chair Sharon Shewmake, noting that she appears to have a question and pausing for her to speak.
Sharon Shewmake — Addressed as Chair at the start of the presentation.
Sharon Shewmake — As chair, thanked the presenter, noted there were no questions from members, and adjourned the meeting.
Katrina Lassiter — Katrina Lassiter is introduced as a representative from the Department of Ecology and then begins her testimony by identifying herself as the program manager for the Hazardous Waste and Toxics Reduction Program, starting a PFAS-related overview.
Peter Lyons — Peter Lyons is acknowledged and invited to join the presentation if he wishes.
Liz Lovelett — Asked about Maine's product bans and how broader bans might affect Washington's timeline and implementation.
Paul Harris — Asked whether Maine and Minnesota are backing off certain bans because interchangeable products are not yet available.
Paul Harris — Senator Harris asks about PFAS exposure from showering and bathing in Vancouver.
Paul Harris — Asked how leakage is determined for TSMC and S-H America, noting their high electricity use and competitiveness concerns.
Paul Harris — Paul Harris expressed concern that Washington’s move away from coal could simply shift emissions to neighboring states like Idaho and Utah, asking how tightly the states are interconnected, whether Washington’s decisions might cause those states to keep burning coal longer, and whether shared power arrangements could create bigger problems if they followed Washington’s path. He also questioned the reliability of Washington’s baseload supply and noted the irony that neighboring states may remain on coal for years while Washington has moved off it.
Vandana Slatter — Senator Vandana Slatter is introduced and then asks a follow-up question about whether compliance is being assessed mainly at the manufacturing level. She is also addressed in the greeting later in the exchange, but the discussion remains within the same brief compliance-related segment.
Vandana Slatter — Senator Slatter asks about health outcomes associated with PFAS exposure.
Vandana Slatter — Joel Criswell greets Vice Chair Slatter.
Vandana Slatter — Vandana Slatter thanked the presenter and asked whether there would be any interim update or teaser before the report deadline, and whether the final report would reference lessons learned from Quebec and California.
Vandana Slatter — Vandana Slatter questioned whether enough of the delayed 30,000-megawatt pipeline could be delivered in time to meet the roughly 6,000 megawatts needed by 2030, then followed up on how Washington’s winter peak-load challenge differs from places like California and how data center demand relates to peak load. She concluded by asking which supply and grid solutions—such as transmission expansion, VPPs, nuclear, geothermal, and other emerging technologies—should receive the most focus and investment.
Matt Boehnke — The speaker addressed the Ranking Member in the greeting.
Matt Boehnke — Senator Matt Boehnke is acknowledged and then thanks the chair and witness before asking about whether changes to the federal timeline could create fiscal funding issues for the department. A later mention again identifies him as Ranking Member Boehnke in the same meeting context.
Peter Lyon — Peter Lyon, the Department of Ecology Solid Waste Program manager, introduced himself and presented testimony on biosolids and PFAS sampling, then concluded by discussing PFAS reductions and biosolids contamination.
Mike Means — Mike Means from the Department of Health was invited to testify and then introduced himself as the water quality policy and certification manager for the Department of Health Office of Drinking Water, beginning his testimony on PFAS impacts in drinking water.
Shelly Short — Senator Shelly Short asks whether the discussion is focused on Group A systems. The chair and response confirm that this is correct and briefly explain the scope of state authority in relation to that issue.
Shelly Short — Senator Short asks what barriers EITEs are reporting and whether Ecology is identifying them independently.
Shelly Short — Senator Shelly Short followed up on concerns about manufacturing and electrification, asking how electrification will affect manufacturers’ energy needs and whether there will be enough energy available for businesses to continue operating.
Shelly Short — Senator Shelly Short questioned why the presentation slide did not include firm power from Energy Northwest, noting that it is an important part of Washington's energy supply and continuing the discussion about Energy Northwest's contribution to the state's power mix.
Joel Criswell — Joel Criswell is invited to the next briefing/work session segment.
HB1862 — The speaker says the original bill directed Ecology to propose legislation, and that HB 1862 was introduced in the 2020 session but did not pass.
Arnie Olson — Arnie Olson is introduced as the next presenter in a work session on resource adequacy for energy, then begins his testimony by identifying himself and noting his background as a senior partner at E3, setting up discussion of resource adequacy in the Pacific Northwest.
Unnamed speaker — Explained that a prior Bonneville Power Administration study on replacing the energy capabilities of the four Lower Snake River dams would likely yield similar findings if repeated now, and said phase two will examine multiple technologies.
Unnamed speaker — Explained that data centers are mostly around-the-clock load and estimated they may account for 50% to 60% of forecast load growth.
Omar Sadiq — Introduced as the next presenter to come up or join on Zoom.
Omar Sadiq / Omar Siddhi — Introduced himself as a senior program manager with the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI). The transcript contains a likely name inconsistency between 'Omar Sadiq' and 'Omar Siddhi.'
Omar Siddiq — Omar Siddiq explains the DC Flex initiative as a response to the mismatch between the rapid build timelines of large data centers and the slower timelines of utility and grid infrastructure. He argues that data centers can be operated more flexibly than commonly assumed, so they can better respond to grid conditions without sacrificing uptime or operational requirements. He says this flexibility can help accelerate interconnection, relieve congestion at both bulk and nodal levels, improve reliability, and avoid shifting infrastructure costs onto ratepayers. Siddiq then outlines the initiative’s work streams: flexible data center design and taxonomy, transformational utility programs, operational flexibility, and energy supply solutions such as on-site or backup power and co-location with generation. He notes that the effort includes U.S. and international demonstrations, is funded by a coalition of companies and organizations, has a public website, and involves a broad set of participants including builders, hyperscalers, independent power producers, market operators, technology enablers, and utilities. He closes by highlighting ongoing work on tariff design, contractual structures, and safeguards to protect ratepayers.