As Washington state pushes forward with its aggressive electrification agenda—including a looming 2035 ban on new gas-powered cars—energy experts are warning that the power grid may not be ready. A 10-year regional transmission study estimates over 12,200 miles of new or upgraded transmission lines will be needed across the West, with a staggering $56 billion price tag just to keep up.
Keegan Moyer, speaking for the Western Transmission Expansion Coalition (WestTEC), told state lawmakers Wednesday that Washington’s current grid lacks the capacity to meet the growing demand. “Transmission is sort of a common constraint underlying all of these challenges,” Moyer told the Joint Committee on Energy Supply, Energy Conservation, and Energy Resilience. “Without the additional infrastructure, our modeling indicates that we’ve failed to meet those [federal] standards, which could compromise grid reliability.”
WestTEC’s study spans Washington, Oregon, California, Colorado, Montana, and Utah, all of which are set to experience a 30% increase in peak electricity demand by 2035. About 20 gigawatts of new capacity will be needed per year, fueled in part by state-mandated electric vehicle adoption and a surge in data center construction.
A separate Pacific Northwest Resource Adequacy study warns that current go-to sources like wind, solar, and batteries won’t fill the gap. It points to regulatory red tape, permitting delays, and rising costs as major roadblocks.
Now, facing a power shortfall by 2026, Washington lawmakers may be forced to reconsider nuclear power. A bipartisan bill, HB 2090, pre-filed by Rep. Stephanie Barnard (R-Pasco) and Majority Leader Joe Fitzgibbon (D-Seattle), would formally add advanced nuclear energy to the state’s clean energy strategy. Nuclear power is already classified as “non-emitting” under the state’s 2019 Clean Energy Transformation Act, but it has yet to play a major role.
The bill argues that advanced nuclear technologies can deliver clean, reliable baseload energy at a much higher capacity than wind or solar, reducing the land, infrastructure, and interconnections otherwise required to meet Washington’s 2045 carbon-free target.
