Energy

Governor signs Hawkins’ utility wildfire bill
May 05, 2021
A proposal introduced by 12th District Sen. Brad Hawkins to implement recommendations of a key electric utilities wildfire group has been signed into law this week by Gov. Jay Inslee. The legislation, Senate Bill 5158, directs state Commissioner of Public Lands Hilary Franz to work with the Utility Wildland Fire... Read More...
Governor signs Hawkins bill promoting hydrogen vehicles
May 03, 2021
Sen. Brad Hawkins’ bill to promote hydrogen-powered vehicles is now a state law. Gov. Jay Inslee today signed Senate Bill 5000, which establishes an eight-year statewide pilot project for the reduction of sales tax on purchases of fuel-cell electric vehicles. The Senate passed the bill 49-0 in March and the... Read More...
Legislature approves Hawkins bill promoting hydrogen vehicles
April 10, 2021
Sen. Brad Hawkins’ bill to promote hydrogen-powered vehicles has been approved by the Legislature. The House of Representatives today voted 93-4 to approve Senate Bill 5000, which would establish an eight-year statewide pilot project for the reduction of sales tax on purchases of fuel-cell electric vehicles. The Senate last month... Read More...
Senate unanimously passes Hawkins bill to promote hydrogen-powered vehicles
March 03, 2021
Sen. Brad Hawkins’ bill to promote hydrogen-powered vehicles has cleared a major hurdle. The Senate today voted 49-0 to approve Senate Bill 5000, which would establish an eight-year statewide pilot project for the reduction of sales tax on purchases of fuel-cell electric vehicles. “I’m pleased to see such strong support... Read More...
Senate unanimously approves Hawkins’ utility wildfire bill
February 26, 2021
Legislation introduced by 12th District Sen. Brad Hawkins to implement recommendations by the Electric Utilities Wildland Fire Prevention Task Force on ways to prevent wildfires was approved today 46-0 by the Senate. Senate Bill 5158 would direct state Commissioner of Public Lands Hilary Franz to work with the Utility Wildland... Read More...
Committee passes Hawkins bill to promote hydrogen-powered vehicles
January 21, 2021
Sen. Brad Hawkins’ proposal to promote hydrogen-powered vehicles, the first Senate bill of the 2021 legislative session, is now also among the first measures to be approved by a Senate committee. The Senate Environment, Energy and Technology Committee on Thursday approved Senate Bill 5000, which would establish an eight-year statewide... Read More...
Hawkins partners with Chelan PUD and Department of Natural Resources to implement key task force’s recommendations
January 15, 2021
Two years ago, the Legislature created the Electric Utilities Wildland Fire Prevention Task Force that focused on ways to prevent wildfires. This critical work included an effort to begin drafting model agreements to remove dangerous trees, developing communications protocols, and considering investigation recommendations. Now that the task force recently released... Read More...
Hawkins prefiles bill to promote hydrogen-powered vehicles
December 07, 2020
The first bill of the upcoming legislative session has been introduced. Following his successful effort with Senate Bill 5588 in 2019 to authorize public utility districts to produce and sell “renewable hydrogen,” Sen. Brad Hawkins has prefiled a bill for the 2021 legislative session to establish an eight-year statewide pilot project... Read More...