OLYMPIA — A House bill proposes electric utilities get more power from small solar projects, likely increasing electric rates, but preserving farmland.

House Bill 1847 would require utilities to acquire 10% of their renewable energy from small, customer-owned projects, known as distributed energy resources.

Electricity from small-scale projects typically costs more, acknowledged the bill’s sponsor, Olympia Democrat Beth Doglio, chairwoman of the House Environment and Energy Committee.

But solar panels on commercial and state buildings, warehouses and along highways west of the Cascade Range could help the state reach its goal of carbon-free power with less loss of farmland, Dogilo said at a recent hearing.

“We have to make a decision. Do we want to exploit all our resources …  as opposed to building another utility scale resource on the east side of the mountains?” she said.

“We want to make sure that we protect our agricultural land,” Doglio said. “We have a lot of amazing agricultural land in the state that we don’t want to have issues with because of our renewable energy buildout.

“Think about all the Walmart, Costco, Amazon warehouses that could be generating a lot of energy,” she said.

Dogilo said she doesn’t expect her bill to pass this year, but does expect the idea to be discussed between the end of this session and the 2026 session.

Washington utility representatives testified against the bill, warning it would drive up rates. Utilities already must convert to all renewable energy by 2045, they noted.

“This is going to be a more expensive way of doing what we’re already doing, and that’s why we’re opposed to the bill,” said John Rothlin, manager of government relations for Avista, a privately owned utility based in Spokane.

Several Eastern Washington counties have passed moratoriums on large solar projects to preserve farmland. Energy companies, however, can bypass county land-use laws by applying to the Energy Facility Site Evaluation Council.

In recent cases, EFSEC has approved projects over county objections.

Farmers who lease land for solar panels or windmills typically get a significant boost in income, according to a study commissioned by the state Department of Commerce.