2006 Washington Initiative 937
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Ballot Initiative 937 (official name Initiative measure no. 937, known as I-937) is a renewable energy initiative passed in the US state of Washington, appearing on the ballot in the November 2006 elections. It passed with 52 percent of the vote.
Content of the proposal
The initiative requires large utilities to obtain 15% of their electricity from new renewable resources such as solar and wind (but excluding hydro) by 2020 with incremental steps of 3% by 2012 and 9% by 2016. It also requires that utilities undertake all cost-effective energy conservation.
Precedents
Similar legislation has been enacted in at least 20 other states including the following. (The table is sorted by date and then by descending percentage. I-937 is included in bold.)
| State | Name | Enacted | Percentage | By | Comments/Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Maine | 30% | 2000 | |||
| Arizona | 1.1% | 2007 | |||
| Massachusetts | 4% | 2009 | |||
| Connecticut | 10% | 2010 | |||
| Iowa | ~10% | 2010 | |||
| New Mexico | 10% | 2011 | |||
| New York | 24% | 2013 | |||
| Nevada | 20% | 2015 | |||
| Minnesota | 19% | 2015 | |||
| Montana | 15% | 2015 | |||
| Colorado | Amendment 37 | 2004 | 10% | 2015 | First ballot initiative |
| Texas | ~4.2% | 2015 | 5.88 GW | ||
| California | 20% | 2017 | |||
| Rhode Island | 16% | 2019 | |||
| Delaware | 10% | 2019 | |||
| Maryland | 7.5% | 2019 | |||
| New Jersey | 22.5% | 2020 | |||
| Hawaii | 20% | 2020 | |||
| Washington | I-937 | 15% | 2020 | ||
| Washington, D.C. | 11% | 2022 | |||
| Pennsylvania | 8% | 2020 |
Unless indicated otherwise, data are from
Supporters
Supporters included the following:
Elected officials
- U.S. Senators Maria Cantwell and Patty Murray
- U.S. Congressmen Jay Inslee, Adam Smith, Norm Dicks and Jim McDermott
- State Senators Luke Esser (R), Dave Schmidt (R), Debbie Regala (D), Bill Finkbeiner (R), Erik Poulsen (D), Karen Fraser (D), Craig Pridemore (D), Jeanne Kohl-Welles (D), Karen Keiser (D)
- State Representatives Toby Nixon (R), Zack Hudgins (D), Brian J. Sullivan (D), Fred Jarrett (R), Pat Sullivan (D), Geoff Simpson (D), Rodney Tom (D), Dave Upthegrove (D), Brendan Williams (D)
- King County Executive Ron Sims
- Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels
Civic and political organizations
- League of Women Voters
- Kittitas Valley League of Women voters
- Washington State Democrats
- King County Young Democrats
- Republicans for Environmental Protection, Washington Chapter
- Green Party of Washington State
- Peace Action for Washington
Health organizations
Energy and labor
- Washington Public Utility Districts Association
- Washington State Labor Council
- United Steelworkers
- SEIU Washington State Council
Environmental
- Denis Hayes, Founder of Earth Day
- NW Energy Coalition
- Audubon Society Washington
- The Mountaineers
- Sierra Club - Cascade Chapter
- Washington Conservation Voters
- Union of Concerned Scientists
- Natural Resources Defense Council
- National Wildlife Federation
Faith
- Earth Ministry
- Lutheran Public Policy Office of Washington
- Washington Association of Churches
- Church Council of Greater Seattle
Newspapers
Opponents
Opponents included many small co-op electrical providers (even though the initiative affects only utilities with greater than 25,000 customers) as well as the following:
- 2006-08-13 at the Wayback Machine
- Boeing
- Boise Cascade
- Chamber of Commerces: Bellevue, Greater Seattle, Kelso-Longview, Pasco, Spokane Regional, Tacoma-Pierce County, Wenatchee Valley, West Richland Area
- National Association of Manufacturers
- PUDs of Benton, Cowlitz, Franklin, Lewis, and Mason County.
- Representatives Brian Blake (D) and Dean Takko (D)
- Senators Jean Berkey (D) and Mark L. Doumit (D)
- 2006-12-05 at the Wayback Machine
- U.S. Chamber of Commerce
- Washington Farm Bureau
- Weyerhaeuser
Results
| Choice | Votes | % |
|---|---|---|
| For | 1,042,679 | 51.73 |
| Against | 972,747 | 48.27 |
| Total | 2,015,426 | 100.00 |
| Source: |
By county
| County | Yes | No | Margin | Total votes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| # | % | # | % | # | % | ||
| Adams | 1,235 | 36.33% | 2,164 | 63.67% | -929 | -27.33% | 3,399 |
| Asotin | 3,351 | 47.06% | 3,769 | 52.94% | -418 | -5.87% | 7,120 |
| Benton | 15,923 | 33.08% | 32,205 | 66.92% | -16,282 | -33.83% | 48,128 |
| Chelan | 7,073 | 31.52% | 15,364 | 68.48% | -8,291 | -36.95% | 22,437 |
| Clallam | 15,247 | 51.87% | 14,150 | 48.13% | 1,097 | 3.73% | 29,397 |
| Clark | 57,446 | 51.77% | 53,513 | 48.23% | 3,933 | 3.54% | 110,959 |
| Columbia | 608 | 32.85% | 1,243 | 67.15% | -635 | -34.31% | 1,851 |
| Cowlitz | 12,697 | 42.24% | 17,362 | 57.76% | -4,665 | -15.52% | 30,059 |
| Douglas | 2,841 | 26.44% | 7,904 | 73.56% | -5,063 | -47.12% | 10,745 |
| Ferry | 1,249 | 46.40% | 1,443 | 53.60% | -194 | -7.21% | 2,692 |
| Franklin | 4,093 | 32.95% | 8,329 | 67.05% | -4,236 | -34.10% | 12,422 |
| Garfield | 406 | 35.93% | 724 | 64.07% | -318 | -28.14% | 1,130 |
| Grant | 5,381 | 27.97% | 13,857 | 72.03% | -8,476 | -44.06% | 19,238 |
| Grays Harbor | 8,684 | 40.28% | 12,874 | 59.72% | -4,190 | -19.44% | 21,558 |
| Island | 15,898 | 54.37% | 13,345 | 45.63% | 2,553 | 8.73% | 29,243 |
| Jefferson | 9,860 | 62.84% | 5,830 | 37.16% | 4,030 | 25.69% | 15,690 |
| King | 363,093 | 59.61% | 246,007 | 40.39% | 117,086 | 19.22% | 609,100 |
| Kitsap | 47,392 | 53.47% | 41,248 | 46.53% | 6,144 | 6.93% | 88,640 |
| Kittitas | 5,719 | 47.91% | 6,217 | 52.09% | -498 | -4.17% | 11,936 |
| Klickitat | 3,741 | 52.31% | 3,411 | 47.69% | 330 | 4.61% | 7,152 |
| Lewis | 9,508 | 38.69% | 15,067 | 61.31% | -5,559 | -22.62% | 24,575 |
| Lincoln | 1,468 | 32.23% | 3,087 | 67.77% | -1,619 | -35.54% | 4,555 |
| Mason | 8,995 | 43.22% | 11,816 | 56.78% | -2,821 | -13.56% | 20,811 |
| Okanogan | 4,890 | 39.31% | 7,549 | 60.69% | -2,659 | -21.38% | 12,439 |
| Pacific | 4,314 | 51.65% | 4,038 | 48.35% | 276 | 3.30% | 8,352 |
| Pend Oreille | 1,893 | 37.91% | 3,101 | 62.09% | -1,208 | -24.19% | 4,994 |
| Pierce | 105,093 | 51.15% | 100,362 | 48.85% | 4,731 | 2.30% | 205,455 |
| San Juan | 4,768 | 59.57% | 3,236 | 40.43% | 1,532 | 19.14% | 8,004 |
| Skagit | 17,575 | 44.75% | 21,701 | 55.25% | -4,126 | -10.51% | 39,276 |
| Skamania | 2,123 | 54.51% | 1,772 | 45.49% | 351 | 9.01% | 3,895 |
| Snohomish | 99,897 | 50.18% | 99,164 | 49.82% | 733 | 0.37% | 199,061 |
| Spokane | 71,732 | 47.63% | 78,858 | 52.37% | -7,126 | -4.73% | 150,590 |
| Stevens | 6,601 | 39.88% | 9,953 | 60.12% | -3,352 | -20.25% | 16,554 |
| Thurston | 46,980 | 57.07% | 35,341 | 42.93% | 11,639 | 14.14% | 82,321 |
| Wahkiakum | 750 | 43.86% | 960 | 56.14% | -210 | -12.28% | 1,710 |
| Walla Walla | 7,001 | 40.49% | 10,291 | 59.51% | -3,290 | -19.03% | 17,292 |
| Whatcom | 37,178 | 55.45% | 29,873 | 44.55% | 7,305 | 10.89% | 67,051 |
| Whitman | 6,065 | 47.90% | 6,597 | 52.10% | -532 | -4.20% | 12,662 |
| Yakima | 23,911 | 45.17% | 29,022 | 54.83% | -5,111 | -9.66% | 52,933 |
| Totals | 1,042,679 | 51.73% | 972,747 | 48.27% | 69,932 | 3.47% | 2,015,426 |
External links
- 2006-10-03 at the Wayback Machine (.doc)