A King County Superior Judge struck down I-2066, an initiative on natural gas, Friday, according to nonprofit Climate Solutions.
Initiative 2066, backed by the Building Industry Association of Washington (BIAW), aims to repeal parts of a state law that accelerates Puget Sound Energy’s shift away from natural gas. (A PDF of Initiative 2066 can be seen here.) It was one of four initiatives on November’s general election ballot, and it was the only one to pass — by about 3.4%.
On Friday, King County Superior Court Judge Sandra Widlan ruled that I-2066 violates the Washington state constitution — agreeing with the group of public interest advocates and local governments, led by Climate Solutions, who sued the State of Washington. The group claimed the initiative makes broad-sweeping impacts, hidden in what was supposed to be a single subject.
“I-2066’s most obvious constitutional infirmity is that it combines one seemingly popular subject (i.e., requiring certain utilities and local governments to provide natural gas to customers) with a host of separate subjects, including altering how the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission (“UTC”) sets utility rates, limiting the authority of county-level agencies to regulate air pollutants, and purportedly rolling back state and local energy efficiency standards in new building construction,” Climate Solutions wrote in its motion for summary judgment. “By joining all of these distinct policy choices and requiring voters to enact all or none of them, I-2066 violates the Constitution’s prohibition on logrolling.”
Climate Solutions reported that during the ruling, Widlan made the example a voter may want to have access to natural gas but also want the government to regulate air pollution from natural gas.
Supporters of I-2066 will continue fight
However, BIAW claimed those who want to ban natural gas are trying to force their view on the majority of Washingtonians.
“We will not back away from the fight to ensure the will of the people who voted to make I-2066 law stands,” BIAW wrote in a statement Friday. “We will continue to use every avenue available, including appealing to the state Supreme Court, to protect energy choice for the people of Washington.”
It added, “Today’s decision was based solely on the policy preference of the judge and had no legal basis whatsoever. Every Washington citizen should be appalled by such an irresponsible ruling.”
The BIAW, Washington Hospitality Association (WHA), Washington Realtors, and Associated General Contractors are part of the coalition supporting the initiative.
“It’s to protect natural gas and propane service statewide by restricting any state, county or city entity from banning, restricting or disincentivizing the use of natural gas for existing or new customers in areas where natural gas is available,” Greg Lane, executive vice president of the BIAW, said in May.
Supporters believe I-2066 protects natural gas and all energy choices across the state.
“We are protecting choice from everybody so everybody can choose any energy resource they think is best for their home or business,” Lane said.
King County, city of Seattle join lawsuit
In December, KIRO Newsradio reported King County and the city of Seattle were among the plaintiffs to file the lawsuit challenging I-2066.
The lawsuit, filed December 11 in King County Superior Court, asked a judge to block the implementation of I-2066, which its attorneys said misled voters “about its actual provisions” and violated Washington’s single-subject law.
“This initiative, the way that it’s written, it covers multiple different subjects, not just issues related to natural gas — which is what the initiative supporters focused on and suggested all that was at issue,” Paul Lawrence, an attorney for the plaintiffs and partner with Pacifica Law Group, said in December. “This has much broader impact on a number of other laws … including energy efficiency, to avoid the disproportionate negative health impacts from air pollution, and these other issues that go far beyond the issue of natural gas.”
Contributing: Matt Markovich and Sam Campbell, KIRO Newsradio