Climate and energy

From Lawrence Journal-World, by Scott Rothschild:

Topeka — Wind energy advocates and rural officials Wednesday urged the Legislature to require utilities to increase electric generation through renewable sources, saying it would boost the state’s economy.

“Enacting this legislation will foster a boom in wind energy development in Kansas,” Dan Hartman, who was representing the Northwest Kansas Regional Energy Collaborative, said in submitted testimony to the House Energy and Utilities Committee.

House Bill 2013 would establish a renewable portfolio standard that would require that each public utility produce at least 10 percent of its electricity from renewable energy sources by 2012; 15 percent by 2016 and 20 percent by 2020.

There is currently a voluntary goal of renewable energy, but supporters of the bill say a statutory requirement is needed to entice wind developers and manufacturers of wind turbines. A majority of states have similar requirements.

Hartman said Kansas has the potential to become the “Saudi Arabia” of wind energy.

Without the renewable requirement, Kansas is losing out to other states in the development of wind farms, supporters of the bill said.

Dan Nagengast, executive director of the Kansas Rural Center, said that the legislation would promote community-owned wind projects.

“I believe a strong RPS (renewable portfolio standard) is the best key we have readily available to enhance our rural economy,” he said.

Tom Thompson, a spokesman for the Kansas chapter of the Sierra Club, said the group supported the proposal because it would result in a reduction in carbon dioxide emissions.

But Thompson said if the renewable energy bill was later linked to approval of more carbon dioxide emitting coal-burning power plants, then the Sierra Club would oppose the measure.

“That would defeat much of the purpose of many of these bills,” Thompson said.

The Legislature has been fighting for more than a year over whether to build two 700-megawatt coal-fired electric power plants in southwestern Kansas. The project has been vetoed by Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, who has objected to the plants’ annual emission of 11 million tons of carbon dioxide, cited by many scientists as a cause of climate change.

David Springe, consumer counsel of the Citizens’ Utility Ratepayer Board, spoke against the renewable energy standard, saying it could make energy more expensive for ratepayers.

“Each utility system is different from a resource perspective and from a finance perspective. Arbitrarily dictating the level and time of adding resources, regardless of cost or other considerations, is not in the interest of consumers,” Springe said.

“Every good idea seems to come out of ratepayers’ pockets,” he added.

Mark Schreiber, a spokesman for Westar Energy, which is the largest electric utility in Kansas, said the company supported the proposal and believes it can meet the requirements.

Currently, Westar produces about 300 megawatts of wind energy, which represents 6 percent of its peak load, Schreiber said. To meet the 2012 proposed requirement, Westar would have to produce an additional 200 megawatts of renewable capacity.

State Rep. Tom Sloan, R-Lawrence, said other issues had to be considered, such as the availability of transmission lines to transport wind-generated electricity, and whether municipally owned utilities should be included in the bill, which as of now they aren’t.

“There are several other issues that are not addressed in this bill,” Sloan said.

State Rep. Don Myers, R-Derby, asked whether it wouldn’t be better to let the market decide how much wind power should be built in Kansas rather than establishing a requirement.

Joe Spease, chief executive officer of Windsohy of Overland Park, said the requirement would help ensure financing for wind projects.

The committee took no immediate action on the bill. A renewable portfolio standard also is part of Sebelius’ energy plan.

From Harris News:

Energy debate shaping up differently this session

By Chris Green

TOPEKA — The debate over energy policy in the Kansas Statehouse figures to unfold at a more deliberate pace this year than it did during last year’s heated legislative session.

Energy issues remain a hot topic among state officials, including the continued debate over allowing the construction of two coal-fired power plants near Holcomb.

With the state facing a $1 billion deficit, reworking the state’s beleaguered budget is taking precedence over other topics, lawmakers said.

“We’re going to concentrate our efforts on the budget over the next few weeks and the majority of the session,” said Senate Utilities Committee Chairman Pat Apple, R-Louisburg.

Lawmakers must close a $186 million gap in the current year’s budget in the coming weeks before moving on to pass a balanced budget for fiscal year 2010, which begins in July.

But that doesn’t mean, however, that energy debates will be put entirely on the back burner in Topeka this year, after dominating last year’s session.

Apple said he hopes to see legislation setting out a comprehensive energy plan introduced in his chamber by mid-February.

Although the economy is in “crisis mode” and the budget “a disaster,” House Energy and Utilities Committee Chairman Carl Holmes, R-Liberal, said his committee still has work to do this session.

That includes a hearing scheduled for Wednesday on legislation that would mandate that electric utilities produce a certain percentage of their power from renewable sources, such as wind.

“Even though the budget issue is a major focus, all of the other committees are working on their various subject matters,” Holmes said.

Holmes also said he didn’t know when his chamber might take up the lingering issue of whether to allow Sunflower Electric Power Corp. to build two coal-fired power plants in southwest Kansas.

Answering questions

Even with the state’s budget crunch, both chambers of the Republican-led Legislature and Democratic Gov. Kathleen Sebelius have set their sights on passing energy-related measures this session.

Sebelius has already announced plans to pursue several initiatives, including a renewable energy mandate, which are designed to help the state boost its production of renewable energy and bring more “green” jobs to Kansas,

The governor also says it doesn’t make sense for lawmakers to revive legislation clearing the way for the coal plants, which her administration blocked in 2007. That’s because of the possibility, she said, that new carbon emission regulations could be enacted under a new president, ones which might affect the use of coal power.

Last year, the Senate overturned Sebelius’ vetoes of legislation that would have Sunflower’s plants, although the House narrowly fell short of an overriding her decision.

House Speaker Mike O’Neal, R-Hutchinson, said last week that his chamber is taking a different approach by using a more open process to draft its energy bills this year.

Some critics have derided the process by which last year’s bills allowing Sunflower’s plants were drafted, arguing they were initially drafted behind closed doors.

O’Neal said he thought allowing more input from all lawmakers this year would increase the chances that legislation authorizing Sunflower’s plants could withstand a gubernatorial veto this year.

Some of the lawmakers who voted against last year’s energy bills did so because the process by which legislation was put together left them with too many unanswered questions, O’Neal said.

“I think we’ll have those individuals there now once they understand fully and get all their questions answered,” O’Neal said.

Already, the House Energy and Utilities Committee has voted to introduce 26 bills, including renewable energy mandates and net metering, a proposal allowing customers to sell renewable power back to utilities at retail rates.

But only about half of those proposals had been drafted for review, though, as of Monday. Several of the proposals, including a renewable portfolio standard and net metering, failed because they were packed with legislation allowing Sunflower’s $3.6 billion Holcomb expansion.

House Utilities Committee Vice Chairman Forrest Knox, R-Altoona, said he believed the committee would attempt to conduct hearings on as many of the 26 bills as possible this session, as well as other measures that might crop up.