GA 2024 Week 9: Protecting Coal, Gas Stations. Nuke Bill Advances
We are now on day 42 of the 60-day legislative session. The deadline for new bills has now passed, and lawmakers only have 14 more working days plus two days for “concurrence” where both chambers must concur on bills. The Governor’s veto period begins on March 29th. You may call the Legislative Message Line at 1-800-372-7181 (Monday-Thurs. 7AM-9PM and Friday 7AM-6PM) to express your views on these bills below. You may also email your legislators.
New Far-Reaching Bill is Just the Latest Effort to Slow Coal Plant Retirements
See Special Page Link on full details about this bill
Early this week, Senators filed Senate Bill 349 (Mills) — the latest effort to slow the retirement of aging coal power plants. This legislation was not entirely unexpected, considering Senate President Robert Stivers stated back in October that this was a priority concern of his. However we already were dealing with the implications of House Bill 445 (T. Smith) as well.
This bill is a multi-layered, obstructionist, “coal protection bill” that continues to pile on top of the previously filed House Bill 445, which also creates hurdles for the retirement of old, outdated, polluting and uneconomical coal generation. These bills are a direct continuation of last session’s (2023) Senate Bill 4 which also added significant administrative hurdles for the Public Service Commission on the decisions to retire or replace existing generating units—primarily coal.
However this new Senate bill goes even further claiming that “Further retirement, decommissioning, or demolition of fossil fuel-fired electric generating resources is not necessary for the protection of the environment or the health, safety, and welfare of the citizens of the Commonwealth.”
All of these bills collectively are attempting to establish a narrative that “reliability” is the primary factor of consideration before a power plant can be retired, and that coal is the superior option for that reliability. However, there have not been any new coal plants built in the entire U.S. in more than a decade, with a quarter of the U.S. fleet expected to retire in just a few years. Therefore, these laws are locking customers in to the oldest, dirtiest power options that are destined to increase customer’s energy costs.
ACT: THIS BILL IS ALREADY ASSIGNED TO SENATE NATURAL RESOURCES. We have detailed a FULL description of what SB349 does, as well as highlight other bills and resolutions this session that are designed to slow our energy transition. See our webpage with a full detail summary of these bills.
CONTACT: Members of the Senate Natural Resources and Energy Committee and Senate Leadership to “Oppose” Senate Bill 349 and its legislative overreach.
Another New Bill of Note for Utilities
This week we also saw the filing of SB364 (Monitor) P. Wheeler Another complicated utility bill. We assume in this case directed toward Kentucky Power. You can find a robust description of the different provisions of this bill on our Senate Bill List. The bill has also already been assigned to the Senate Natural Resources and Energy Committee .
Senators Pass Nuclear Development Authority Bill SB198- Now on to the House
Senator Carroll (left) and Webb (right) discuss Senate Bill 198 (Carroll) on the floor. The bill to establish a nuclear development authority passed the Senate 34-0 this week.
Last week we told you about Senate Bill 198 (Carroll) which establishes the Kentucky Nuclear Energy Development Authority to serve as the non-regulatory state government agency on nuclear energy issues and to support and facilitate the development of nuclear energy in Kentucky. This is the latest of Senator Danny Carroll’s ongoing interest to explore nuclear energy in the Commonwealth. The bill passed 34-0 out of the Senate and is now in the House Committee on Committees.
New Bills and Resolutions, Bills On the Move
Senate Bill 16 (Strong Oppose) J. Schickel: The :Ag Gag” bill that prohibits the operation of unmanned aircraft, video or audio recording devices, or photography equipment on or above a concentrated animal feeding operation or commercial food manufacturing or processing facility without written consent of the owner or authorized representative of the facility.
ACT: SB16 has passed the Senate and is now in the House Agriculture Committee. Contact members of House Agriculture and ask them to “Oppose SB16.”
Senate Joint Resolution 194 (Support) G. Williams. Urges the United States Congress to designate Big Bone Lick State Historic Site as a national historical park and directs the Kentucky Tourism, Arts and Heritage Cabinet to work in conjunction with the United States Congress and the United States Department of the Interior to do so.
House Bill 581 (Oppose) Upchurch. Impacting where fuel stations are allowed. Prevents local governments from adopting zoning regulations that treat fossil fueling stations different from EV charging stations. Bill needs improvement, as an EV charging station, under the current definition, can include any typical 120 V outlet that the public can access. We assume this bill is a reaction to an ordinance passed in Lexington to limit the number of fuel stations in particular areas. This is fundamentally a safety issue due to the hazardous materials in gas stations and should not be confused with the rights of EVs vs. Internal Combustion cars.
ACT: The bill is posted for passage in the House. Contact House Leadership and “all members of the House” to oppose. See information at the top of this page for the Legislative Message Line number and hours.