RCW 19.29A.130 Finding—Intent.

(1) Consumer disclosure ensures that retail electric consumers purchasing electric energy receive basic information about the characteristics associated with their electric product in a form that facilitates consumer understanding of retail electric energy service and the development of new products responsive to consumer preferences.

(2) The legislature finds and declares that there is a need for reliable, accurate, and timely information regarding fuel source that is consistently collected, for all electricity products offered for retail sale in Washington.

(3) The desirability and feasibility of such disclosure has been clearly established in nutrition labeling, uniform food pricing, truth-in-lending, and other consumer information programs.

(4) The legislature intends to establish a consumer disclosure standard under which retail suppliers in Washington disclose information on the fuel mix of the electricity products they sell. Fundamental to disclosure is a label that promotes consistency in content and format, that is accurate, reliable, and simple to understand, and that allows verification of the accuracy of information reported.

(5) To ensure that consumer information is verifiable and accurate, certain characteristics of electricity generation must be tracked and compared with information provided to consumers.

(6) The legislature recognizes that the generation, transmission, and delivery of electricity occurs through a complex network of interconnected facilities and contractual arrangements. As a result, the legislature intends that the fuel characteristics disclosed under this chapter represent reasonable approximations that are suitable only for informational or disclosure purposes.

(7) The disclosures required by this chapter reflect the characteristics of electricity products offered by retail suppliers to customers. Nothing in this chapter prohibits a retail supplier from communicating to its customers, owners, taxpayers, or the general public information regarding its investment in or ownership of renewable or nonrenewable generating facilities, its production of electricity, or its wholesale market activities, as long as the information is provided separately from the electricity product content label.

[ 2019 c 222 § 1; 2000 c 213 § 1.]