Sen. Jim Barnett already cast his vote in favor of the controversial expansion of the Holcomb coal-fired energy plant, and it appears Emporia’s other two state legislators will be on board with the expansion when the House debates its own bill.
On Thursday, the Senate approved an energy measure that would allow the expansion of the plant and legislate that the secretary of the Kansas Department of Health and Environment doesn’t have the authority to regulate carbon dioxide emissions.
The vote of 33-7 was crucial for senators who wanted the plant expansion because Gov. Kathleen Sebelius is expected to veto the bill. With 27 votes or more, the Senate would have enough votes to override a veto. The House Utilities Committee, of which Emporia Rep. Peggy Mast is a member, passed its own version of the bill earlier in the week, and the full House is expected to debate that version on Monday.
Leading up to Thursday’s vote, Barnett said the state’s interests in inexpensive energy and economic development need to be balanced with the needs for a clean environment. In a prepared explanation of his “yes” vote on Thursday, Barnett said future electrical energy needs in Kansas will rely on a stable base of coal, nuclear and gas.
“Now is the time to drive the debate for a comprehensive energy policy,” Barnett said. “Kansans and all Americans should no longer accept inaction from elected officials in developing energy policy or energy policy reliant on foreign countries.”
Last October, the Kansas Department of Health and Environment denied an air-quality permit for the expansion of the Holcomb plant. KDHE Secretary Rod Bremby said he rejected the permit because of increased carbon dioxide emissions. Many legislators claimed Bremby didn’t have the authority to regulate CO2 emissions, and the new House and Senate bills stipulate that the KDHE can’t limit emissions beyond limits set by the federal government. The House bill would require utilities to increase their percentage of energy derived from renewable sources.
Mast said the Utilities committee made changes to the bill it received that made it largely dissimilar from its original form.
“I want to do my part to see Kansas be a business-friendly state,” Mast said, “and I want to do my part to see that we don’t have so much volatility in the regulations right now where there’s uncertainty for businesses that would consider to come into Kansas.
“So we’re going to have to get some stability here to attract new people in and also to control the cost of our electricity rates.”
Emporia’s third legislator, Rep. Don Hill, said his bias was to be supportive of expanding the Holcomb plant.
“We’re all concerned about carbon dioxide emissions, and I am as well,” he said. “The reality is that we’re not going to do away with them. We need to be responsible and hopefully find ways to mitigate carbon (dioxide) emissions in the future. This plant will be state-of-the-art as far as mitigation of carbon dioxide.”
Mast also sees the plant expansion’s ability to mitigate CO2 emissions as something in its favor.
“I just know that the projected plant in Holcomb would actually have fewer emissions than any of the other existing plants that we have now,” she said. “Considerably less, and it’s in a less populated area than many of the other plants.
“So to me, if you’re really concerned about emission, then allow Holcomb to be built and shut down some that have a lot worse record as far as emissions go and are located near a population base.”
Mast said because the issue is so complex, it would be a challenge for House members who don’t serve on the Utilities committee to understand everything about it. To help those members have a better grasp of the factors at play, she said members of the Utilities committee may try to hold caucuses addressing the power plant debate.
“There will be debate in the caucus on the bill, but there’s a lot of educating that needs to be done,” she said.