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Donna Brutkoski
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 21, 2026
Stakeholders back a common-sense solution for meeting state and region’s power supply crunch
Electricity demand in Washington is expected to at least double over the next two decades, but the state and the Pacific Northwest region are struggling to keep up with building enough transmission to meet that demand. Today, a coalition of Washington stakeholders is launching to work toward a common-sense solution to this challenge: opening up the state’s highway rights-of-way (ROW) to siting of transmission projects.
The coalition, convened by the NextGen Highways initiative, is pursuing legislative solutions that will confirm that transmission can be co-located in existing ROW along interstates and freeways. By streamlining the permitting process, co-location can help get transmission built as quickly and affordably as possible, while protecting private property, farmland and undisturbed land from unnecessary development.
“Washington is facing an unprecedented rise in electricity demand, and the state needs every practical tool available to build the transmission that will keep the power system reliable and affordable,” said Randy Satterfield, NextGen Highways’ executive director. “Opening highway right-of-way to transmission is a straightforward way to help projects get built more quickly, at lower cost, and with less impact on communities and private land.”
Meeting the demand growth being driven by electrification and economic expansion — while maintaining reliability and keeping pace with the state’s goal to have 100% clean electricity by 2045 — will require significant new transmission in Washington.
Currently, Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) policy includes strict limitations for siting transmission lines within interstate rights-of-way. In practice, this means co-location is generally not allowed in highway ROW, with limited case-by-case exceptions. The lack of clear guidance has left both transmission developers and WSDOT constrained, and without clear collaborative processes, transmission developers often avoid freeway ROW altogether.
Washington policy makers have already identified the challenge. In its January 2025 report, Alternative Use of Highway Rights-of-Way, WSDOT concluded that the agency cannot update its utility accommodation policy to generally allow transmission in highway ROW without enabling legislation to clarify that co-location is permitted. That finding creates a clear path forward for the Legislature and stakeholders to work together on a practical fix.
With legislation in place, WSDOT could update its utility accommodation policy to promote smoother coordination among WSDOT, transmission developers and the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission. Updated policy could also ensure that highway ROW are fully considered as options when new transmission is sited and deliver benefits to communities adjacent to highway corridors.
NextGen Highways’ work in Washington builds on policy successes the initiative has achieved with similar coalitions in Iowa, where a bill amending code to allow co-location in highway ROW was signed into law earlier this year; Colorado, whose transmission authority is beginning a state highway corridors study as required by a co-location bill that became law in 2025; and Minnesota, where policy makers are considering highway corridors in siting processes after legislation opened those corridors in 2024. In Virginia, following similar legislation passed earlier this year, stakeholders including NextGen Highways coalition members are convening a work group to identify co-location opportunities across the state.
The Washington coalition’s current members represent energy, agricultural, economic, environmental, labor, wildlife, and other interests across the state. Organizations seeking to join the effort and move forward common-sense transmission siting policy in Washington can visit nextgenhighways.org to learn more and inquire.
More from our coalition members:
Michael Mann, executive director, Clean & Prosperous:
“In the last five years, the Bonneville Power Administration has built just one mile of high-voltage transmission. Clearly, that is nowhere near enough to meet Washington’s projected demand growth and our clean energy ambitions. We’re proud to join the Next-Gen Highways Coalition to advocate for thoughtful, impactful transmission infrastructure along our state’s highways. This will help ensure Washington can bring the clean power we need to homes and businesses across our state.”
Nicole Pavia, director, clean energy infrastructure deployment, Clean Air Task Force:
“Transmission is the backbone of a reliable, affordable, and increasingly clean grid, but it hasn’t been built at the pace needed to support growing demand. Expanding the options available for siting new transmission is a critical step toward modernizing the grid and ensuring communities and businesses have access to electricity around the clock. Clean Air Task Force is proud to join this coalition to advance policies that make it easier to build the modern grid Washington’s communities and economy will depend on.”
James Hove, Washington director, Climate Solutions:
“Transmission is the linchpin to everything we’re working on for climate in Washington — we must build more clean power and then move it to where people live and work. NextGen Highways offers us a thoughtful path that balances concern for natural areas, cultural resources, and people’s homes with the speed we need to address our enormous transmission challenges.”
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About NextGen Highways
NextGen Highways is a collaborative initiative promoting the use of highways and other existing rights-of-way as infrastructure corridors where electric and communications infrastructure are strategically and safely co-located.