Ballot Initiative 937 (official name Initiative measure no. 937, known as I-937) is a clean 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.
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.
Washington State was the second state to pass renewable energy standards. 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 for easy comparison.)
Unless indicated otherwise, data are from
Supporters included the following:
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), Zach 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
American Lung Association
American Cancer Society
Washington Physicians for Social Responsibility
Energy and labor
Washington Public Utility Districts Association
Washington State Labor Council
United Steelworkers
SEIU Washington State Council
Apollo Alliance
Blue-Green Alliance
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
Earth Ministry
Lutheran Public Policy Office of Washington
Washington Association of Churches
Church Council of Greater Seattle
The Seattle P-I
The Olympian
The Tacoma News Tribune
The Stranger
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:
Big Bend Electrical Cooperative
Boeing
Boise Cascade
Chamber of Commerces: Bellevue, Greater Seattle, Kelso-Longview, Pasco, Spokane Regional, Tacoma-Pierce County, Wenatchee Valley, West Richland Area
Modern Electric Water Company
National Association of Manufacturers
Peninsula Light Company
PUDs of Benton, Cowlitz, Franklin, Lewis, and Mason County.
Representatives Brian Blake (D) and Dean Takko
Senators Jean Berkey (D) and Mark L. Doumit (D)
Tanner Electric Cooperative
U.S. Chamber of Commerce
Washington Farm Bureau
Washington Rurual Electric Cooperative Association
Weyerhaeuser
