2006 Washington Initiative 937

Initiative measure no. 937
Clean Energy Initiative
Results
Yes:; 50–60% 60–70%	No:; 50–60% 60–70% 70–80%
	Source: Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections

Ballot Initiative 937 (official name Initiative measure no. 937, known as I-937) is a renewable energy initiative passed in the US state of Washington, appearing on the ballot in the November 2006 elections. It passed with 52 percent of the vote.

Content of the proposal

The initiative requires large utilities to obtain 15% of their electricity from new renewable resources such as solar and wind (but excluding hydro) by 2020 with incremental steps of 3% by 2012 and 9% by 2016. It also requires that utilities undertake all cost-effective energy conservation.

Precedents

Similar legislation has been enacted in at least 20 other states including the following. (The table is sorted by date and then by descending percentage. I-937 is included in bold.)

State	Name	Enacted	Percentage	By	Comments/Source
Maine			30%	2000
Arizona			1.1%	2007
Massachusetts			4%	2009
Connecticut			10%	2010
Iowa			~10%	2010
New Mexico			10%	2011
New York			24%	2013
Nevada			20%	2015
Minnesota			19%	2015
Montana			15%	2015
Colorado	Amendment 37	2004	10%	2015	First ballot initiative
Texas			~4.2%	2015	5.88 GW
California			20%	2017
Rhode Island			16%	2019
Delaware			10%	2019
Maryland			7.5%	2019
New Jersey			22.5%	2020
Hawaii			20%	2020
Washington	I-937		15%	2020
Washington, D.C.			11%	2022
Pennsylvania			8%	2020

Unless indicated otherwise, data are from

Supporters

Supporters included the following:

Environmental

Faith

Earth Ministry
Lutheran Public Policy Office of Washington
Washington Association of Churches
Church Council of Greater Seattle

Newspapers

Opponents

Opponents included many small co-op electrical providers (even though the initiative affects only utilities with greater than 25,000 customers) as well as the following:

Big Bend Electrical Cooperative Archived 2006-08-13 at the Wayback Machine
Boeing
Boise Cascade
Chamber of Commerces: Bellevue, Greater Seattle, Kelso-Longview, Pasco, Spokane Regional, Tacoma-Pierce County, Wenatchee Valley, West Richland Area
Modern Electric Water Company
National Association of Manufacturers
Peninsula Light Company
PUDs of Benton, Cowlitz, Franklin, Lewis, and Mason County.
Representatives Brian Blake (D) and Dean Takko (D)
Senators Jean Berkey (D) and Mark L. Doumit (D)
Tanner Electric Cooperative Archived 2006-12-05 at the Wayback Machine
U.S. Chamber of Commerce
Washington Farm Bureau
Washington Rural Electric Cooperative Association
Weyerhaeuser

Results

2006 Washington Initiative 937
Choice	Votes	%
For	1,042,679	51.73
Against	972,747	48.27
Total	2,015,426	100.00

Source: Washington Secretary of State

By county

County results
County	Yes		No		Margin		Total votes
County	#	%	#	%	#	%	Total votes
Adams	1,235	36.33%	2,164	63.67%	-929	-27.33%	3,399
Asotin	3,351	47.06%	3,769	52.94%	-418	-5.87%	7,120
Benton	15,923	33.08%	32,205	66.92%	-16,282	-33.83%	48,128
Chelan	7,073	31.52%	15,364	68.48%	-8,291	-36.95%	22,437
Clallam	15,247	51.87%	14,150	48.13%	1,097	3.73%	29,397
Clark	57,446	51.77%	53,513	48.23%	3,933	3.54%	110,959
Columbia	608	32.85%	1,243	67.15%	-635	-34.31%	1,851
Cowlitz	12,697	42.24%	17,362	57.76%	-4,665	-15.52%	30,059
Douglas	2,841	26.44%	7,904	73.56%	-5,063	-47.12%	10,745
Ferry	1,249	46.40%	1,443	53.60%	-194	-7.21%	2,692
Franklin	4,093	32.95%	8,329	67.05%	-4,236	-34.10%	12,422
Garfield	406	35.93%	724	64.07%	-318	-28.14%	1,130
Grant	5,381	27.97%	13,857	72.03%	-8,476	-44.06%	19,238
Grays Harbor	8,684	40.28%	12,874	59.72%	-4,190	-19.44%	21,558
Island	15,898	54.37%	13,345	45.63%	2,553	8.73%	29,243
Jefferson	9,860	62.84%	5,830	37.16%	4,030	25.69%	15,690
King	363,093	59.61%	246,007	40.39%	117,086	19.22%	609,100
Kitsap	47,392	53.47%	41,248	46.53%	6,144	6.93%	88,640
Kittitas	5,719	47.91%	6,217	52.09%	-498	-4.17%	11,936
Klickitat	3,741	52.31%	3,411	47.69%	330	4.61%	7,152
Lewis	9,508	38.69%	15,067	61.31%	-5,559	-22.62%	24,575
Lincoln	1,468	32.23%	3,087	67.77%	-1,619	-35.54%	4,555
Mason	8,995	43.22%	11,816	56.78%	-2,821	-13.56%	20,811
Okanogan	4,890	39.31%	7,549	60.69%	-2,659	-21.38%	12,439
Pacific	4,314	51.65%	4,038	48.35%	276	3.30%	8,352
Pend Oreille	1,893	37.91%	3,101	62.09%	-1,208	-24.19%	4,994
Pierce	105,093	51.15%	100,362	48.85%	4,731	2.30%	205,455
San Juan	4,768	59.57%	3,236	40.43%	1,532	19.14%	8,004
Skagit	17,575	44.75%	21,701	55.25%	-4,126	-10.51%	39,276
Skamania	2,123	54.51%	1,772	45.49%	351	9.01%	3,895
Snohomish	99,897	50.18%	99,164	49.82%	733	0.37%	199,061
Spokane	71,732	47.63%	78,858	52.37%	-7,126	-4.73%	150,590
Stevens	6,601	39.88%	9,953	60.12%	-3,352	-20.25%	16,554
Thurston	46,980	57.07%	35,341	42.93%	11,639	14.14%	82,321
Wahkiakum	750	43.86%	960	56.14%	-210	-12.28%	1,710
Walla Walla	7,001	40.49%	10,291	59.51%	-3,290	-19.03%	17,292
Whatcom	37,178	55.45%	29,873	44.55%	7,305	10.89%	67,051
Whitman	6,065	47.90%	6,597	52.10%	-532	-4.20%	12,662
Yakima	23,911	45.17%	29,022	54.83%	-5,111	-9.66%	52,933
Totals	1,042,679	51.73%	972,747	48.27%	69,932	3.47%	2,015,426

References

↑ "2006 Initiative General Election Results - Washington". David Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections. Retrieved January 12, 2024.
↑ "MSN". MSNBC. Archived from the original on November 16, 2007.
↑ Full text of Ballot Initiative 937 (.pdf)
↑ "The Colorado Renewable Energy Standard Ballot Initiative". Archived from the original on 2006-10-28. Retrieved 2006-10-26.
↑ "State Clean Energy Maps and Graphs". Archived from the original on 2006-10-28. Retrieved 2006-10-26.
↑ "Yes! On I-937". Archived from the original on 2006-11-04. Retrieved 2006-10-26.
↑ "Domain Name Renewal and web hosting from Network Solutions". Archived from the original on 2007-09-06. Retrieved 2006-10-26.
↑ Reed, Sam (November 7, 2006). "Elections Search Results November 2006 General State Totals Proofed · County Totals Proofed". Secretary of State of Washington. Archived from the original on January 31, 2026. Retrieved February 28, 2026.

External links

Washington’s Primary Energy Consumption by Source Archived 2006-10-03 at the Wayback Machine (.doc)

[1] "2006 Initiative General Election Results - Washington". David Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections. Retrieved January 12, 2024.

[2] "MSN". MSNBC. Archived from the original on November 16, 2007.

[3] Full text of Ballot Initiative 937 (.pdf)

[4] "The Colorado Renewable Energy Standard Ballot Initiative". Archived from the original on 2006-10-28. Retrieved 2006-10-26.

[5] "State Clean Energy Maps and Graphs". Archived from the original on 2006-10-28. Retrieved 2006-10-26.

[6] "Yes! On I-937". Archived from the original on 2006-11-04. Retrieved 2006-10-26.

[7] "Domain Name Renewal and web hosting from Network Solutions". Archived from the original on 2007-09-06. Retrieved 2006-10-26.

[8] Reed, Sam (November 7, 2006). "Elections Search Results November 2006 General State Totals Proofed · County Totals Proofed". Secretary of State of Washington. Archived from the original on January 31, 2026. Retrieved February 28, 2026.