House to House
by State Rep.
Pat Maloney
To the Constituents
      of the 116th District:

We had a short week at the Statehouse since the week after Turnaround is a short week for both House and Senate.  We only considered one piece of legislation all week, but it was the highly controversial coal bill that dominated most of the 2008 legislative session.  Next week should be busy as the House committees begin to consider the Senate bill and vice versa.
House Sub for Bill 2014 was debated on the House floor on Thursday and officially approved by a final action of 79-44 on Friday.  This is the Holcomb Bill of 2009, a bill that would allow the construction of two coal-fired power plants in Holcomb.  The Governor has already said she will veto this bill.  The House will need 84 votes to over-ride her veto.  I appreciate the many calls and emails I have received from all over the 116th concerning this issue.  Citizens of the district have been significantly in favor of this bill.  There have been 14 energy bills that have been merged into House sub for Bill 2014.  The State of Kansas desperately needs to develop a comprehensive energy plan for the future.  This bill is definitely a good start in that direction.  My only regret is that 14 bills, merged into one may allow someone to find fault and vote against the bill.
House Sub for Bill 2014 is a massive piece of legislation.  Energy and utilities legislation is quite complicated, but there are three basic parts of this bill.  
1.    The bill imposes federal guidelines upon the power of the KDHE
in regulating energy providers.  Legislators felt that the Secretary of
KDHE acted arbitrarily and not within the guidelines of the federal law
in denying Sunflower permits for construction of the coal plants.
2.    The bill provides regulations for increasing energy efficiencies
in government-owned property.  (For example vehicles, buildings, etc.)
3.    The bill moves Kansas in a renewable direction. Bill 2014 legally requires that utilities in Kansas must meet Renewable Energy
Standards or Renewable Portfolio Standards.  Basically, utilities operating in Kansas must supply 10% of the peak demand for electricity from renewable sources (wind or solar) by 2015, 15% of peak demand for electricity by 2019, and 20% of peak demand for electricity after 2020.

The bill would create the Net Metering and Easy Connection Act for Renewable Generation.  “Net metering” would be defined as the use of metering equipment to measure the difference between the electricity supplied to a customer-generator by a retail electric supplier and the electricity supplied by the customer-generator to the supplier during a billing period.  A critical facet of net metering, however, is that consumers be allowed to sell back the extra electricity they produce or to be credited by the utility company in some way.  The bill, as currently written, provides no incentive for consumers to use net metering because savings are passed on monthly to the utilities rather than to ratepayers themselves.  Proponents argue that this bill will save consumers money by allowing utilities to cover their costs, thus mitigating price increases and passing on the savings to rate payers.  I hope the Senate will change this so that net metering savings be passed on to the consumer at the end of each year.
Bill 2014 appears to be a start in looking at Kansas’ future energy needs.  This bill recognizes that the solution cannot be one-dimensional.  There are many pieces to this puzzle made of wind, solar, coal, etc.   This balanced approach will help our country become more energy independent:  it will boost our state’s economy, provide for new markets for agricultural products, and make Kansas a better place in which to live and to do business.  
I plan on being in Greensburg at 9:00 a.m. at the Art Center on Saturday, March 7.  I am also trying to plan a coffee in Coldwater on that same morning, but nothing is finalized as of yet.  I will be in Kingman and Cunningham on March 14, and I will set other dates in other communities in the future.
As I close, I would like to state once more that it is an honor to serve as your state representative.  I value and need your input on the various issues facing state government.  Please feel free to contact me with your comments and questions.  My office address is Kansas State Capitol, 300 SW 10th Street, Topeka, Ks.  66612.  You can reach me at 785-296-7647 or call the legislative hotline at 1-800-432-3924 to leave a message for me.  My email address is Pat.Maloney@house.ks.gov.