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Input Requested on Energy Plan

Posted on: Saturday, 4 March 2006, 00:00 CST

By Stacy Shelton, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Mar. 3--The state's first energy plan is on the way.

Gov. Sonny Perdue's policy director, Trey Childress, said the governor's office wants to hear different perspectives during a 10-month planning process. "We want to make sure we're making the best decisions," he said. "Come to us. Come to [the Georgia Environmental Facilities Authority]. We want to hear your opinions."

Starting Tuesday, everyone from research scientists to high school students will be able to log into a newly launched GEFA Web site to register their views on various energy topics, including whether the state should buy an electric power plant and what incentives the state should offer to promote clean energy.

The site, www.georgiaenergyplan.org, can already be accessed. The deadline for initial recommendations is March 31. A draft plan is due June 1.

By Sept. 1, Perdue is scheduled to appoint an advisory council to take the draft plan through more public comments and revisions before making final recommendations to the governor Dec. 15. The State Energy Strategy will include policy recommendations the governor could handle administratively, and possibly proposed legislation during the 2007 session for changes that require action by the General Assembly. But any action by Perdue on the final strategy is dependent on his re-election bid in November.

Last fall, Perdue announced he wanted to create an energy plan for Georgia just weeks after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita rocked the Gulf Coast and disrupted gas supplies coming into metro Atlanta and other parts of Georgia.

Alan Shedd, a commercial and industrial engineer with Jackson Electric Membership Corp., the state's largest member-owned electric cooperative, said Georgia needs an energy plan. About half the states have one.

"We need to have a better idea of where we're going, and where we've been," Shedd said. Volatility in the energy markets, caused by rising fossil fuel costs, hurricanes, ice storms and other reasons, means Georgians need to be better prepared, he said.

John Sell, spokesman for Georgia Power, said the company also supports long-term energy planning.

"I think it's good to look at a diverse fuel mix," Sell said. "One of those alternatives has got to be nuclear going forward."

Georgia Power has already asked the Public Service Commission for permission to bill its customers about $51 million in planning and licensing costs for a new nuclear power plant.

House Resolution 1365, which is working through the Legislature, urges the General Assembly to encourage utilities in Georgia to build nuclear power plants to meet future electric needs.

Stephen Smith, executive director for Southern Alliance for Clean Energy, said his group supports ethanol production from Georgia's agricultural and forestry sectors because of their environmental benefits and potential to boost the state's rural economy.

"Is Georgia going to get serious about that?" Smith asked.

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Copyright (c) 2006, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

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Source: The Atlanta Journal and Constitution

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