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Energy Bill Could Have Long-Term Effect in State New Nuclear Power Plant, Renewable Energy Projects Likely to See Push.

Posted on: Thursday, 25 August 2005, 21:00 CDT

ATLANTA -- When President Bush recently signed a $14.5 billion energy bill, he warned it wouldn't be an overnight solution to soaring fuel costs.

That point has been hammered home by rising gasoline prices across the country.

But Georgia could see long-term impacts from the massive Energy Policy Act of 2005, observers say -- particularly in the areas of building a new nuclear power plant, expanding research in hydrogen fuel technology and investing in renewable energy projects, such as solar and wind.

In two years, Georgians will see daylight-saving time stretch from mid-March to November, and coastal residents could notice research boats heading into the ocean to catalog offshore oil and natural gas resources under the Outer Continental Shelf.

And Don Kohler could start planting corn.

Kohler, executive director of the Georgia Peanut Commission, said corn prices could increase because the energy bill calls for the country to double its production of ethanol, which is made mostly from corn. By 2012, U.S. refineries are required to increase their use of ethanol to 7.5 billion gallons.

"Corn is a great rotation crop for us," Kohler said. "Farmers have been needing more than just cotton and peanut rotation in Georgia. I think the potential for us to get back into corn production is a plus."

Georgia farmers, just like motorists at the pump, have faced higher fuel costs in recent months.

Fertilizer expenses and everyday crop maintenance have hurt profits, Kohler said, which is why he is optimistic about the bill's promotion of renewable energies.

"The thing that we'll be looking at is renewable sources of fuel, which is something that has potential for everybody in agriculture but also the potential for us as a nation to supply some of our needs internally instead of being so dependent on fuel coming from other places," he said.

U.S. Sen. Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga., described the bill as the first comprehensive energy policy in U.S. history.

"We are a country blessed with diverse resources, but still we import 60 percent of our energy supplies," he said. "We've got a policy in place now that is going to allow our children to develop alternative fuels. What they put in their vehicles in 30-40 years from now is going to look very different from what we put into our cars now."

Natural gas utility officials in Georgia will be watching the bill's new rules to see how it affects development of liquid natural gas, or LNG, terminals.

The new law makes it clear that federal regulators have authority over the construction or expansion of LNG import terminals.

"If there's a way to get access to Elba Island, we're certainly supportive of that," Atlanta Gas Light spokesman Nick Gold said, referring to the Savannah facility that is one of four LNG terminals in the country. "That's the big thing for us."

State lawmakers have been studying a project to build a Georgia pipeline from Elba Island to Macon.

Nuclear power also received significant attention in the energy bill through financial incentives to promote a push to license construction of the nation's first new nuclear power plant since the 1970s.

A group of power companies banded together as NuStart Energy Development LLC, which includes Atlanta-based Southern Co. The group has targeted Savannah River Site near Augusta as one of a handful of locations it would consider in applying for a license.vicky.eckenrode@morris.com, (404) 681-1701

Source: Florida Times Union

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