Energy, energy prices focus of town hall discussion

QUINCY — Energy prices and their impact were among the topics discussed at a town hall sponsored by 13th District Senator Judy Warnick and Representatives Tom Dent and Alex Ybarra Thursday in Quincy. All three legislators are members of the Republican party.

“We missed so much of this during the pandemic. We didn’t have in-person (meetings),” Dent said. “A virtual town hall is okay when we’re in session, but the interaction isn’t there. This is much better.”

Legislators answered questions and listened to concerns from a crowd of about 20 people, including a lengthy discussion of energy and the impact of new state laws on energy prices.

“Basically, it’s a program that the state put together where they’re trying to cap how much carbon is in the air,” Ybarra explained.

A limit is set for businesses and industries, and if a business exceeds that limit it must pay a fine or buy an allowance, he said. He estimated the state has raised about $850 million through the “cap and trade” program so far.

Ybarra sits on the House Energy Committee and said he worked in the cap and trade market as part of his job with the Grant County PUD. In his opinion, the legislation was poorly drafted and neither the legislators or Gov. Jay Inslee really considered the impact. Among other things, exemptions that were supposed to be in place for agriculture were not implemented properly, he said.

“I’ll just say it out loud, our governor wanted to be the climate king and he passed everything as quick as he could, without looking to see how it was going to work,” Ybarra said. “I was on the energy committee, and I said, ‘What are you guys doing? This is moving too fast.’

“You can do cap and trade, (but) you don’t have electrical generation, you don’t have transmission. You’re putting this program together without any infrastructure to do those things you said you would do, like having the farmers exempt,” he said.

Currently, a committee of 35 people is working on the agriculture exemption, Ybarra said.

“They could’ve done it before they put the plan in place, right? I mean, that’s the smartest thing to do. Our governor just wanted it in place. He wanted cap and trade, he didn’t want natural gas being used anymore, and he just ran it through, and it’s a mess,” he said.

Warnick said the effect can be seen throughout industry. An Alaska Airlines executive, speaking at an event in Moses Lake Monday, cited the company’s fuel costs, and said they are higher than other airlines due to its location in Seattle, Warnick said.

Dent said there was legislation designed to address the agriculture exemption, but it didn’t pass.

“They have put together the plan to sort out how to do this,” Dent said. “I’m sad that the group is in the Department of Ecology; it should be in the Department of Revenue. We have mathematicians over there that know how to do this - Department of Ecology is not the folks who do that.”

Dent said he asked that legislators be included on that committee, but that Inslee did not include any. Department of Ecology officials have agreed to provide regular updates to him, he said, and there should be one by early next week.

Being on the energy committee, Ybarra said he sees it as part of his job to slow down the process and make sure the infrastructure and procedures are in place before the measures are implemented.

The cap and trade system is projected to generate about $1.4 billion by the end of 2023, Ybarra said. All of the projected revenues have been allocated in the 2023-25 budget, he said

In answer to a question about gas prices, Ybarra said the state must collect the rest of the estimated $1.4 billion, and that too will push up gas prices. In his opinion Inslee continues to underestimate the effect, he said.

“What he says on the record is that this cap and trade isn’t going to affect us at all,” he said. “And what we’re saying on our side of the aisle is, ‘It’s going to be $1 a gallon, guys, maybe.’ It’s 45 cents (impact) now, but by the time the (cap and trade) auction is over this year it’s going to be another 55 cents, we estimate.

“He told everybody across the state it’s going to be a couple pennies per gallon. And we’re (saying), ‘No, it’s going to be this much,’ and actually, it’s coming out to what we estimated it would be,” Ybarra said.

“What we can do is what I’m doing now, trying to slow it down, trying to put examples out there, and just say, ‘Look, this is what’s going to happen,’” he said.

Cheryl Schweizer may be reached via email at cschweizer@columbiabasinherald.com.