State audit reviews Clallam PUD energy act compliance
Published 1:30 am Tuesday, June 2, 2026
CARLSBORG — The Clallam County Public Utility District is expected to receive a clean opinion from the state auditor’s office with regard to renewable energy standards for the 14th consecutive year.
The PUD’s board of commissioners heard a brief presentation during a special meeting Monday from the Auditor’s Office, which shared the preliminary results of this year’s audit of the PUD’s compliance with the state Energy Independence Act for the period of Jan. 1, 2025, through Dec. 31.
“They’re going to issue a clean finding barring anything changing between now and June 10,” General Manager Sean Worthington said. “It was a fully clean opinion, and we complied with all material aspects of the law.”
The PUD is audited every year to ensurance compliance with the law, which voters approved statewide in November 2006.
“We purchase renewable energy credits,” Worthington said. “We take it to the board every two years and have them approve what our target is, so basically the auditor audits us against that target and makes sure we achieve it.”
The district’s renewable energy target for 2025 was 98,902 megawatt-hours (MWh), according to the preliminary audit report.
“Public Utility District No. 1 of Clallam County used Renewable Energy Credits it purchased and energy it purchased from facilities using eligible renewable resources of a value of 98,902 MWhs to meet its renewable energy target,” the report states. “The District’s renewable energy target for 2025 was 98,902 MWhs, which represents 15 percent of its 659,346 MWh average retail load sold during the previous two years.”
A Renewable Energy Credit (REC) is “a tradable certificate of proof of at least 1 MWh of electricity produced from an eligible renewable resource,” according to the report.
To meet its renewable energy target, PUD 1 purchased RECs in 2025 from various sources: 40,013 MWhs of geothermal RECs from Raft River Energy 1; 7,863 MWhs of incremental hydropower RECs from Bonneville Dam, Chief Joseph Dam, Cougar Dam, Grand Coulee Dam, Hills Creek Dam, Lookout Point Dam and Palisades Dam; and 2,918 MWhs of wind RECs from Klondike Wind Power and Stateline (WA).
In addition, the PUD in 2024 purchased 48,108 MWhs of solar RECs from American Falls Solar, Black Cap, Murphy Flat, Orchard Ranch Solar and Simcoe Solar.
________
Reporter Emily Hanson can be reached by email at emily.hanson@peninsuladailynews.com.
