Washington state faces a long-term crisis in energy production and transmission. Many assume California’s woes are isolated to California and caused by that state’s disastrous regulatory environment (to call the California legislature’s restructuring of the energy industry “deregulation” is tragically inaccurate). That environment exacerbated and raised to extreme levels the consequences of a larger problem which Washington state also faces: Rising energy demand, but static energy supply.

Governor Gary Locke has proposed what he is calling a “package of measures” to provide “enough energy for Washington.” This study will show that while the governor correctly identifies some of the causes for this growing crisis, he misses others and his proposed “package” offers little near-term relief. The governor’s plan does not address the fundamental underlying problem of the state’s energy system, is distracted by unrelated policy proposals and would not achieve its stated goals even if fully implemented. What emerges from the plan offers little more than the band-aide approach taken by President Jimmy Carter in an earlier energy crisis. The Locke plan does not take the bold approach needed to address the root causes of the energy shortage.

Read the full Policy Brief here