WA — Power Infrastructure Updated 2026-07-17

Washington

WECC Data Center PPAs Queue Bottlenecks

> Methods note: Interconnection counts below were recalculated from BPA’s “Interconnection Request Queue” workbook downloaded July 17, 2026; the workbook is timestamped July 17, 2026 at 12:00:36 and includes generator (GI) and load (LL) requests. The workbook’s State field is blank for some clearly Washington-based newer requests, so this file distinguishes the strict State = WA count from data-center requests identifiable as Washington projects through the county, point of interconnection, or requesting utility. BPA, 2026-07-17

1) Grid operator and market structure

  • Balancing authority / region: Washington is in the Western Interconnection, and BPA remains the dominant federal transmission provider and balancing authority across much of the Pacific Northwest, including major Washington load and generation areas. WECC, 2026-06-10; BPA, 2026-06-10
  • RTO/ISO context: Washington large-load interconnection analysis is centered on BPA transmission, public-utility transmission systems, and Washington utility regulation rather than a single PJM- or CAISO-style statewide RTO queue. FERC’s June 18 large-load order directed six regional grid operators to justify or reform their tariffs, but BPA was not one of those RTO/ISO operators and the order did not itself create a Washington retail tariff. BPA, 2026-06-10; FERC, 2026-06-18

2) Interconnection queue (depth, wait times, reforms)

  • Queue depth (BPA): The July 17 workbook contains 1,462 total requests, including 452 load requests totaling 61,498 MW of maximum summer load. A strict filter on BPA’s State = WA field returns 190 Washington load requests totaling about 18,058 MW, but that is a lower bound because several newer Washington rows leave State blank and instead identify Washington in the county, utility, or interconnection point. BPA, 2026-07-17
  • Data-center-specific requests: Across the BPA footprint, 26 load requests explicitly use “data center” in the project record. Fourteen are identifiable as Washington projects and total about 10,192 MW: the nine records already coded State = WA, plus Second 1200 MW Data Center Load and 1200 MW Data Center Loads in Walla Walla County, DPUD Data Center in Chelan County, TC KERR Data Center at Longview, and DOE Data Center in Benton County. BPA, 2026-07-17
  • Washington data-center queue status: Of those 14 named requests, one is received, five are in study, two are study-completed, and six are withdrawn. The largest current study entry is the 2,750 MW DOE Data Center request at Hanford; the 600 MW DPUD Data Center request is withdrawn. BPA, 2026-07-17
  • New July large-load entry: BPA also lists a new 950 MW “Plymouth 950 MW” request from Benton Rural Electric Association, received July 6 for a requested January 2029 in-service date. Because the new project name does not identify its end use, it is not included in the data-center-named count even though an earlier 864 MW “Plymouth Data Center Campus” request is listed as withdrawn. BPA, 2026-07-17
  • Queue reform status: BPA continues its cluster-study transition for generator interconnections and its transmission business-practice process, but no completed BPA rule specific to connecting data-center loads was identified by July 17; the load requests above remain subject to BPA and serving-utility planning and study processes. BPA Transition Process, 2026-07-17; BPA Proposed Business Practices, 2026-07-17

3) Ratepayer protection (tariffs, cost allocation, PUC actions)

  • WUTC large-load docket: On April 7, WUTC opened Docket UE-260162 to examine how investor-owned electric utilities connect large energy loads, including data centers. The docket covers ratepayer protection, risk mitigation, forecasting, tariffs, special contracts, resource adequacy, and interconnection principles. WUTC, 2026-04-07
  • Still pending; no final tariff or order: As of July 17, UE-260162 remained a pending policy-statement docket and its orders page contained no final large-load tariff, cost-allocation ruling, or policy statement. A July 10 notice scheduled the next hybrid commission workshop for August 12; comments from the Renewable Thermal Collaborative and Climate Solutions were added June 26 and June 29. WUTC Docket UE-260162, 2026-07-17; WUTC document set, 2026-07-10
  • Legislative fallback after HB 2515 failed: WUTC tied the docket to the failure of HB 2515, leaving the commission to develop guidance for investor-owned utilities through its policy process rather than implementing the bill’s proposed mandatory tariff and reporting framework. WUTC, 2026-04-14
  • Seattle City Light proposal: City Light proposed a new class for new or expanded data-center service of 10 MVA or more, priced at incremental procurement and delivery cost, backed by a service agreement assigning the customer full infrastructure responsibility, placed in a service queue, and subject to conservation, demand response, and peak curtailment. Seattle City Light, 2026-06-12
  • Seattle proposal not yet enacted: The implementing rate ordinance, Council Bill 121231, was still in the Parks and City Light Committee after its July 15 meeting, so the new class was proposed rather than effective as of July 17. The land-use moratorium applies only inside Seattle, while the proposed rate would cover City Light’s entire service territory. Seattle City Council Legistar, 2026-07-15; Seattle City Light, 2026-06-12
  • Grant PUD shifted non-core costs and began a data-center class redesign: An unbundled rate structure took effect April 1, reserving priority access to lowest-cost hydropower for residential and other core classes while higher-load non-core classes paid an average 9.5% increase for infrastructure and incremental supply. On June 9, staff proposed a new High Density Compute rate class grouping data centers with cryptocurrency loads for the 2027 rate process; that class remained a proposal, not an adopted tariff, as of July 17. Grant PUD, 2026-03-18; Grant PUD, 2026-06-11
  • Chelan PUD’s scheduled data-center rate step took effect: Rate Schedule 36 for data centers and similar loads moved to its June 1, 2026 prices: basic charges of $165 to $1,055 per month by size, a $6.80/kW nonresidential demand charge, a $0.0332/kWh production energy charge, and a $0.0825/kWh market-energy component used under the schedule’s blending formula. Schedule 36 applies only through 3 MW; larger loads use Chelan PUD’s negotiated large-load framework. Chelan PUD, effective 2026-06-01; Chelan PUD Rate Schedule 36, effective 2026-06-01

4) Generation adequacy (projects and shortfall signals)

  • State policy signal: UE-260162 asks whether large-load customers should bring new resources, how utilities should model large loads in resource planning, and what resource-adequacy protections should apply before service is committed. WUTC, 2026-04-07
  • Avista proposal paused: Avista’s May 29 MOU described 125 MW of service beginning in 2029 and a pathway to 500 MW by 2032 for an unnamed Washington data-center developer. On June 12, Avista paused negotiations after community and stakeholder concern, stating that broader planning and policy alignment was needed; a final energy-services agreement had not reached WUTC. SEC, 2026-06-02; Avista/SEC, 2026-06-12
  • Regional forecast signal: Northwest Power and Conservation Council planning identifies data centers as a major source of uncertainty and growth. Its June update placed current regional annual energy near 22,000 aMW and modeled 31,000-44,000 aMW by 2046, with peak demand rising from about 35,500 MW winter/33,300 MW summer to 47,000-60,000 MW; the draft Ninth Plan had not yet been posted on the Council’s plan page by July 17. Northwest Power and Conservation Council, 2026-06-26; Northwest Power and Conservation Council, 2026-07-17

5) Utility load forecasts and IRP treatment of data centers

  • Investor-owned utility planning: UE-260162 asks Washington IOUs to address data needs, load-forecasting methods, current tariffs, special-contract tools, resource adequacy, and IRP treatment for large loads. WUTC, 2026-04-07
  • Seattle municipal-utility planning: Seattle’s original inquiry pipeline was five facilities totaling 369 MW, but two developers withdrew by May 1, leaving Equinix and Prologis with three requests totaling 249 MW. The city nevertheless estimated that serving the original pipeline could require at least $300 million in City Light infrastructure upgrades. Government Technology/The Seattle Times, 2026-05-01; Seattle City Clerk, 2026-06-11
  • Seattle 2026 IRP: The City Council approved City Light’s 2026 Integrated Resource Plan on June 23. It forecasts rising 20-year demand and calls for additional wind, solar, batteries, transmission, and more than 100 MW of customer-side programs in 2026-35, while evaluating firm options such as geothermal, hydrogen, long-duration storage, and small modular reactors. The public summary does not assign a separate adopted load forecast to data centers, which are instead being addressed through the pending large-load rate policy. Seattle City Light, 2026-07-09; Seattle City Light, 2026-06-12
  • Chelan PUD/Microsoft project status: Chelan PUD now describes Microsoft’s Malaga campus, the county’s first large-scale data center, as preparing for operation. The governing contract authorizes up to 288 MW at the campus, requires Microsoft to pay the Jumpoff Ridge substation and interconnection costs, and does not obligate the PUD to supply its low-cost hydropower over the full contract term. Chelan PUD, 2026-07-17; Chelan PUD, 2025-06-04
  • Benton PUD lowered its active EIL forecast: The load forecast approved May 26 reported six customers operating eight electricity-intensive-load services, a category that includes data centers and cryptocurrency loads. One large-general EIL ended service in early 2026, and Benton reduced the continuing large-general EIL assumption from 3.0 aMW in its 2025 forecast to about 2.0 aMW annually; the forecast does not identify the customers or separate data centers from other EIL uses. Benton PUD, 2026-05-26
  • Urban-facility scale check: JLARC estimated that the four facilities eligible for Washington’s urban tax preference used about 427,000 MWh in 2024, or 1.4% of combined Puget Sound Energy and City Light retail sales; JLARC characterized the effect of those existing facilities on other customers’ costs as likely minimal. That finding does not measure the much larger proposed Seattle or BPA-queue loads. Washington JLARC, 2026-07

6) Behind-the-meter (BTM), co-location, and direct PPAs

  • CETA coverage now reaches new BTM and direct-supply arrangements: SSB 5982/Chapter 181 took effect June 11. It treats a nonresidential consumer as an affected market customer when it self-generates electricity or buys electricity from an entity not otherwise subject to CETA, bringing that load within CETA’s greenhouse-gas-neutral and 100%-clean standards; de minimis fossil generation used only for emergency backup is excluded. WUTC must adopt reporting rules and enforce affected-market-customer compliance. The statute is industry-neutral but directly addresses the BTM/direct-supply gap raised for data centers. Washington Legislature, 2026-03-24; Washington Final Bill Report, 2026-03-24; Washington House Bill Report, 2026-02-19
  • No data-center-specific final tariff for customer-supplied resources: SSB 5982 establishes emissions and reporting coverage rather than service prices or interconnection terms. UE-260162 remains the forum considering customer-supplied resources, flexibility, special contracts, and cost protections for investor-owned utilities. WUTC Docket UE-260162, 2026-07-17
  • Vantage/VoltaGrid temporary generation: Grant PUD authorized contracting in January for temporary on-site natural-gas generation serving Vantage’s Quincy campus. On July 7, Ecology proposed approving VoltaGrid’s NOC application for 14 generators totaling 30 MW and opened comments through August 13; the permit had not been finally issued by July 17. Grant PUD, 2026-01-27; Washington Department of Ecology, 2026-07-07

7) Transmission constraints and upgrades

  • BPA transmission pressure: The July BPA queue’s 452 load requests total 61,498 MW of maximum summer demand. The strict State = WA subset alone is about 18,058 MW, and additional blank-state Washington entries make the true state total higher. BPA, 2026-07-17
  • Seattle upgrade exposure: Seattle’s ordinance record says serving the original five-project pipeline could require at least $300 million in City Light infrastructure upgrades, explaining the proposed service queue and full customer-cost responsibility. Seattle City Clerk, 2026-06-11; Seattle City Light, 2026-06-12
  • Avista is no longer an active near-term test case: Although any final 125-to-500 MW service agreement would require WUTC approval, Avista paused negotiations June 12. It should not be treated as an approved project or committed load in utility planning as of July 17. Avista/SEC, 2026-06-12

Data notes (BPA queue analysis)

  • Total BPA queue requests: 1,462
  • Load (LL) requests: 452
  • Total BPA load-request max-summer MW: 61,498 MW
  • Strict State = WA load requests: 190, totaling about 18,058 MW
  • Identifiable Washington data-center-named requests: 14, totaling about 10,192 MW
  • Washington data-center-named request statuses: 1 received, 5 study, 2 study completed, 6 withdrawn

All figures were computed from BPA’s July 17, 2026 workbook. Identifiable Washington data-center rows include records with blank State fields when their county, interconnection point, or requesting utility places them in Washington; generic large-load names are excluded from the data-center count. BPA, 2026-07-17