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The Senate last week passed by a veto-proof majority a bill opening a door to the 1,400-megawatt expansion of the Holcomb facility owned by Sunflower Electric Power Corp. A roll call vote today in the House would determine if 84 votes exist in the chamber to protect its version from Gov. Kathleen Sebelius' veto pen.
After a three-hour debate Monday, the House gave tentative approval to its energy bill 73-45. Approval by a mere majority of House members would send the measure to a Senate-House conference committee to work out differences in the legislation.
Rep. Annie Kuether, a Topeka Democrat who joined a handful of legislators in drafting the original energy bill in January, said she was grateful the Sunflower controversy finally triggered serious legislative debate on state energy policy.
"We have been waiting and waiting and waiting to get the rest of you engaged in this debate," she told House colleagues.
At the center of this conflict is a decision in October by the Kansas Department of Health and Environment to deny Sunflower an air-quality permit needed to triple the size of its coal-fired generating station in southwest Kansas. KDHE secretary Rod Bremby, with an endorsement by Sebelius, cited the danger of adding 11 million tons of CO2 annually to the atmosphere.
Legislators in the House and Senate maintain Bremby overstepped his authority to regulate pollutants.
Earl Watkins, Sunflower's president and chief executive officer, said the company could accept either the House or Senate versions of the bill. He vowed to continue an aggressive lobbying campaign to make the coal-plant project a reality in Finney County.
The governor used the word "unfortunate" to describe her reaction to the House bill. Sebelius said the bill didn't do enough to promote wind-power development or to moderate carbon emissions, and unfairly weakened authority of the KDHE secretary.
During floor debate, the House cast aside an amendment that would have required utility companies to counter higher carbon dioxide emissions at new power plants by investing in conservation programs, trimming emissions at older plants or investing in renewable energy projects.
"It's just a basic statement that we ought to mitigate additional carbon dioxide," pleaded sponsor Rep. Pat Colloton, R-Leawood.
Critics of her amendment argued carbon constraints placed Kansas electricity producers at a competitive disadvantage. Others questioned evidence that carbon dioxide contributed to global warming and climate change. And some said the issue should be settled at the federal level.
"Take care," warned Rep. Forrest Knox, R-Altoona. "Don't move ahead of the national debate."
Three-fourths of Kansas electricity is created by burning coal.
Rep. Vaughn Flora, D-Topeka, did obtain consent of the House to require new coal plants to remove 80 percent of mercury from smoke stack emissions. He said this by-product of burning coal was especially harmful to pregnant women.
House Speaker Melvin Neufeld, R-Ingalls, announced on the House floor moments before Monday's first-round vote that Sunflower would contribute $2.5 million for energy research at Kansas State University if the Legislature reversed KDHE's decision on the air permit for Holcomb. Sunflower and its partners must have a state permit in hand by June 1 or the financial offer is voided, Neufeld said.
Rep. Carl Holmes, R-Liberal, and utility committee chairman, said the House bill justifiably stripped KDHE of power to bypass the Legislature in creating environmental regulations. Until Bremby made his ruling, the state had never regulated CO2 emissions.
"Sunflower went through all the hoops and hurdles ... and then the rules were changed," Holmes said. "He made a decision, which I believe was a political decision."
Representatives of organized labor were in the House gallery during the floor debate, and Kansas union leaders praised preliminary approval of the bill. Sunflower has a deal with the AFL-CIO, building trade and the electrical workers unions to give priority to hiring union labor for a six-year project expected to employ 2,000 craftsmen.
"It's important for our struggling economy," said Andy Sanchez, secretary-treasurer for the Kansas AFL-CIO.
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