Lawmakers Vow to Push Energy Policy

By Sebastian Kitchen, Montgomery Advertiser, Ala.

Jun. 9–Rising gas prices and the veto of a key piece of legislation have stiffened the resolve of lawmakers working on a state energy policy.

The 14 members of the committee on energy policy will roll up their sleeves and get back to work in August, said Rep. Greg Wren of Montgomery. They are more determined than ever to push through a package of bills that encourages reduced energy consumption by state agencies and Alabama residents.

“The dust won’t settle long,” said Wren, vice chairman of the panel of seven senators and seven representatives. “We’re going to be just as aggressive.”

By the time they get back together, the lawmakers could be paying $4 or more for every gallon of gasoline they pump into their cars and trucks. That’s a painful pocketbook reminder, said Wren, of why the committee must retool the 11 bills that did not make it through the 2008 session, and the one bill that was vetoed.

Only two of the committee’s bills made it to Gov. Bob Riley’s desk.

The bill that was signed into law would allow tax incentives for existing companies, including Alabama Power Co., to expand alternative and renewable energy sources such as clean coal and nuclear power.

The bill Riley vetoed would have established a grant program for energy research and development.

Among the 11 other bills that died were measures to set up a permanent legislative committee to research energy issues and to encourage state agencies and departments to buy energy efficient vehicles.

Wren said the committee worked for a year to come up with a comprehensive energy policy that touched upon conservation, increasing efficiency, diversifying supplies and encouraging research into clean technologies and alternative fuel sources.

At least 200 people participated in the 28 meetings that were held, including representatives from public universities, industries, consumer groups, environmental groups, energy producers, utilities and local governments, he said.

Rep. John Knight, a Montgomery Democrat, said the panel’s members took their challenge seriously.

“The committee worked together to try to address energy problems,” he said.

Once the session started, the legislative gridlock over budget issues doomed most of the energy proposals, and played a part in Riley’s decision to veto the bill that would have established the grant program.

The bill would have created the five-member Commission on Public Interest Energy Research and Development Grants and funded the agency with $100,000 taken from the general fund.

Riley balked at spending that much money from the cash-strapped general fund for an agency that the governor did not control and that he felt duplicated the efforts of an existing department.

The governor’s decision surprised some committee members, who argued Riley and his staff had ample opportunities to voice their concerns about the bill before it made it to his desk.

Wren said 11 people from the governor’s office and the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs were invited to all of the meetings. Wren said he even introduced amendments to two bills on the House floor at the request of ADECA officials.

“I did everything they asked me to do,” he said.

Three members of the energy committee said no one from the governor’s office ever contacted them about the bill that was vetoed — Wren, Sen. Wendell Mitchell, D-Luverne, and Rep. Betty Carol Graham, D-Alexander City. Mitchell is chairman of the committee.

Jeff Emerson, communications director, said the governor did outline his concerns. Riley believed the agency’s cost would go up every year, and it would replicate the duties of the ADECA, he said.

“From my understanding, concerns about the bill were expressed every step of the way,” said Emerson.

If money was the issue, Wren said the governor could have signed the bill but cut out the money.

“We have lost another year,” said the Montgomery Republican.

Knight had a simple explanation for the governor’s decision. It was merely a part of the “power struggle that seems to exist” between the administration and the Legislature.

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Copyright (c) 2008, Montgomery Advertiser, Ala.

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