History and mission

History

Our beginnings

In 1970, the Legislature created our agency to provide a "one-stop shop" for siting and permitting large energy facilities. The goal was to:

• Create a single decision-making organization, bringing together government agencies with different priorities  
• Balance the need for new energy facilities with the broad interests of the public

Becoming an independent state agency

After years of being part of larger agencies, we became an independent state agency on June 30, 2022. 

This change was part of the EFSEC Modification Act of 2022 (E2SHB 1812), which aimed to modernize us to help meet the state’s clean energy goals. The legislation also:  

• Increased transparency around planned energy facilities through public comment periods and forums 
• Increased engagement with federally recognized tribes, local governments and overburdened communities 
• Added a pre-application review process, which allows us to review a draft application and suggest additional studies or stakeholder or tribal input to include in the final application 
• Expanded the list of facilities that can apply with us to include green hydrogen, clean energy product manufacturing, storage facilities and other alternative energy facilities 
• Further defined our role in promoting environmental justice and the protection of cultural resources 

Mission

Our work helps ensure the siting, construction and operation of energy facilities with minimal negative effects on the environment, ecology of the land and state waters, wildlife, and aquatic life. Learn more about our main responsibilities. 

Siting and regulation of major energy facilities

Some energy facilities must use our siting process, while others may choose to. Facilities that need to apply with us include: 

• Large-scale thermal power plants (350 megawatts or more) 
• Nuclear fission facilities 
• Transmission lines of over 500 kilovolts (kV) 
• Natural gas and oil pipelines 
• Oil refineries 
• Underground natural gas storage fields  

Voluntary siting and regulation

The following types of facilities may choose to use our siting and permitting process instead of local government processes or the Department of Ecology’s coordinated clean energy permit process: 

• Wind energy 
• Solar energy 
• Renewable or green electrolytic hydrogen 
• Geothermal energy 
• Renewable natural gas 
• Wave or tidal action 
• Biofuels 
• Biomass energy 
• Clean energy product manufacturing 
• Battery storage or manufacturing 
• Pumped storage 

To understand how our process differs from others, read the Department of Ecology’s article on options for permitting clean energy projects (PDF 24KB). 

Federal permitting

For facilities we oversee, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has given us the authority to issue permits under the Federal Water Pollution Control and Federal Clean Air acts.