Washington’s Supreme Court has voided Initiative 2066, the voter-approved natural-gas measure, holding that its mix of utility, building-code and local-government provisions violated the state Constitution’s single-subject rule.
The 6-3 decision, issued Sept. 17, affirmed a King County Superior Court judgment and declared the initiative unconstitutional in its entirety. Chief Justice Debra Stephens wrote for the majority that the measure bundled provisions with “markedly distinct purposes and regulatory effects” that could not be separated and preserved. Three justices dissented, arguing that most of the initiative could survive even if specific sections were invalid.
The ruling resolves a challenge filed after the 2024 election and leaves Washington’s pre-initiative energy laws in place. Official election results show that I-2066 passed with nearly 52% of the vote and carried 34 of 39 counties. Because litigation began shortly after certification and the lower court later blocked the measure, the initiative never became operative.
I-2066 was broader than a simple guarantee that existing customers could keep gas service. A nonpartisan legislative analysis said it would have required utilities and local governments to provide gas to eligible customers, barred approval of certain plans that restricted or made service cost-prohibitive, limited state and local policies discouraging gas use, and repealed parts of a 2024 utility-decarbonization law.
That breadth was central to the court’s constitutional analysis. Washington’s single-subject rule is designed to prevent “logrolling,” in which voters must accept provisions they might oppose to secure others they support. The majority found that the initiative’s provisions did not share a sufficiently unified purpose. The dissent said courts should preserve voter-enacted laws when possible and would have struck only the sections it viewed as impermissibly hidden amendments.
For residents and builders, the immediate effect is continuity rather than a new ban on gas. Existing state energy-code incentives for electric heat pumps remain, and Puget Sound Energy continues to operate under the planning framework enacted in 2024. Local governments also retain the authority they had before voters approved the initiative. The utility has emphasized in its own customer guidance that existing customers were not required to convert their homes from gas to electric service.
The decision is also a warning for future ballot drafting. The Building Industry Association of Washington, which developed I-2066, argued that all sections advanced consumer energy choice. Opponents said the measure joined distinct legal changes under a broad label. As the State Standard reported, sponsors now view the litigation as finished, while supporters of the ruling say narrower proposals remain available through the initiative or legislative process.
The court did not decide which energy policy is preferable. Its holding was procedural and constitutional: however popular a proposal may be, Washington voters must be presented with one subject at a time.
