HB1446 – Excuses utilities from the penalties for failing to meet required conservation targets if events beyond their reasonable control prevent that.
Prime Sponsor – Representative Fey (D; 27th District; Tacoma)
Current status –
In the House – Passed
Referred to the House Committee on Environment and Energy; had a hearing February 9th. Replaced by a substitute and voted out of committee, February 15th. Referred to Rules, and passed by the Senate March 3rd.

In the Senate –
Referred to the Committee on Environment, Energy & Technology. Had a hearing March 17th, and passed out of committee March 23rd. Referred to Rules, and passed unanimously by the House April 6th.
Next step would be – To the Governor.
Legislative tracking page for the bill.

Summary –
Substitute –
There’s a staff summary of the changes made by the substitute at the end of it. (It now specifies the situations in which a utility would be allowed to do this.)

Original bill-
Under the bill, a utility would be considered to be in compliance with its requirements for acquiring cost effective conservation (and excused from paying a penalty for failing to meet them) if events beyond its reasonable control that couldn’t have been reasonably anticipated or ameliorated prevent it from meeting them. (These events include natural disasters, public health disasters, severe economic recession, unanticipated loss of significant retail electric load, strikes, lockouts, and actions of a governmental authority that adversely affect the acquisition of cost-effective conservation…)