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Next up: the Senate
Published 3/6/2008 in News : Area coverage
By SARAH KESSINGER
kessinger@dailynews.net
TOPEKA (HNS) -- The Kansas House passed a conference committee's bill Wednesday to allow construction of new coal-fired power plants.
But the chamber's nearly party-line vote of 75-47 wasn't the two-thirds majority that GOP leadership will need to override a certain veto by Gov. Kathleen Sebelius later this session.
"It's really not a question of if she'll veto, but when," the governor's spokeswoman, Nicole Corcoran, said after the House's afternoon session.
The Senate is expected to give its stamp of approval to the bill this afternoon and send it to Sebelius.
"Today is not the end game, it is one more step toward the end game," said Earl Watkins, president and chief executive officer of Hays-based Sunflower Electric Power Corp.
The electric utility and its Colorado and Texas partners need the bill to clear the way for construction of a $3.6 billion, 1,400 megawatt coal-fired power complex near Holcomb.
Their plans were halted last year by state Health and Environment Secretary Rod Bremby, who said the generators would emit too much carbon dioxide -- 11 million tons per year -- contributing to global climate change.
After Wednesday's action, House Speaker Melvin Neufeld, R-Ingalls, said he still expects to swing the nine votes to reach a two-thirds majority of House members -- or 84 -- by the time an override attempt rolls around.
"We've got a couple weeks," he said in reference to expected deal-making to get the support for Sunflower, which supplies power to electric cooperatives in and around his district. "That's how this place works."
Opponents of the bill say it's unclear whether Neufeld can succeed.
"It'll be close. There's a lot of time left between now and then," said Sierra Club lobbyist Tom Thompson earlier in the day.
But after watching the House vote Wednesday afternoon, Thompson said, "I think the House will sustain a veto and and that will be the best for Kansas in the long run."
Rep. Mark Treaster, D-Pretty Prairie, said he would accept a compromise, a bill that allowed a single coal plant and pushed more alternative energy but didn't remove the secretary's authority.
"There needs to be a whole lot more added in there for wind energy," he said.
While most of the House Democratic minority opposed the bill, there were a few supporters, including Minority Leader Dennis McKinney, D-Greensburg, and a scattering of others.
"I'm concerned about our power consumption and power needs," said bill supporter Rep. Doug Gatewood, D-Columbus, whose southeast district includes coal reserves and the state's smallest coal plant, owned by Empire District Electric.
'Not at the finish line'
Across the aisle, some Republicans voted against the bill, including a handful from Johnson County, home to a growing array of environmentalist groups.
Sebelius reminded lawmakers in a statement issued by her office that she won't sign a bill that strips her cabinet member's power to regulate emissions.
Backers of the measure acknowledge there's plenty of work ahead.
"We know we're not at the finish line," Watkins said as he stood in a Capitol hallway directing lobbyists to meet with legislators.
The Senate, in an earlier vote on the issue, already signaled it has bi-partisan, veto-proof support for the bill.
"Hallelujah," said Senate Utilities Chairman Jay Emler, R-Lindsborg, after agreeing to sign the conference committee's final bill.
"I'm sure it'll be vetoed," he said, "but at least we're at the next step."
Before concluding House-Senate negotiations on the bill, the conference committee added a provision to encourage utilities to create energy efficiency programs.
It would allow the companies to charge customers for the cost to run the programs, contingent up on Kansas Corporation Commission approval. The bill, which was reworked from earlier House and Senate versions, also now includes nearly all energy conservation and renewable energy proposals considered by legislators this session.
It includes requirements that utilities have a set amount of renewable energy available by set dates; it would allow for owners of solar power to sell their energy back to the grid at a better price than is currently available; and it would require new state buildings to meet certain energy efficiency standards.
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