Sen. Matt Boehnke, R-Kennewick/Credit: Washington State Senate

OLYMPIA… On Tuesday, the governor signed a bipartisan measure from Sen. Matt Boehnke that accelerates the deployment of distributed energy technologies like solar, storage, and agrivoltaics across the state.

The new law is a major step forward for clean energy and land stewardship in Washington.

“This is a win for innovation, farmers, and every Washingtonian who want reliable, affordable, and clean energy,” said Boehnke, R-Kennewick. “With this new policy, we’re not just talking about clean energy—we’re building the on-ramps for it.”

The law created by Senate Bill 5445 encourages the development of small-scale, locally generated clean energy—such as solar panels installed on landfills, irrigation canals, highway rights-of-way, and farmland—by cutting red tape, creating tax certainty for agricultural landowners, and streamlining environmental review where appropriate.

It also ensures that farmers integrating solar into their operations (“agrivoltaics”) won’t lose their open-space tax classification—a change Boehnke called “common-sense policy that rewards conservation and productivity.”

“This opens the door to clean energy projects that don’t compete with farmland—they complement it,” Boehnke said. “Rural communities can now lead the way in building a resilient, flexible, and forward-looking energy system.”

The new law also strengthens utilities’ incentives to invest in distributed energy by allowing qualifying projects to count quadruple toward their renewable energy targets under the state’s Energy Independence Act.

“This is about innovation. It makes room for technologies that are smarter, smaller, and closer to the people,” Boehnke said. “It brings opportunity to places we’ve long overlooked—like capped landfills, parking lots, and even rooftops. That’s the future of energy.”

The policy was approved by the Legislature with near-unanimous support, reflecting broad interest in clean-energy growth paired with responsible land use.

“Washington has an opportunity to lead the nation in distributed energy innovation—and this law helps us get there,” Boehnke said. “This is how you build an energy policy that works from Benton County to Bellingham.”

The new law takes effect July 27.

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