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Bill Griffith, chairman of the Sierra Club in Kansas, said conservation was the least costly form of new energy and held the most realistic potential for moderating short-term natural gas and electricity prices.
Bill Griffith, chairman of the Sierra Club in Kansas, said conservation was the least costly form of new energy and held the most realistic potential for moderating short-term natural gas and electricity prices.
Debate in the Capitol on closing the energy gap in Kansas can be refined to two words: production and conservation.
Escalation in the cost of fueling a vehicle, heating or cooling a home and running industrial equipment is adding urgency to calls for expansion of the state's energy production capacity, including diversification into renewable fuel sources, and redoubling of efforts to curb the use of this valuable commodity.
Gov. Kathleen Sebelius said the state's economy couldn't withstand political inflexibility in shaping new energy policy.
"There's a huge economic potential, as well as essential economic strategy, with energy," she said. "If businesses are going to invest in this state, they need to know there is reliable, affordable …
Debate in the Capitol on closing the energy gap in Kansas can be refined to two words: production and conservation.
Escalation in the cost of fueling a vehicle, heating or cooling a home and running industrial equipment is adding urgency to calls for expansion of the state's energy production capacity, including diversification into renewable fuel sources, and redoubling of efforts to curb the use of this valuable commodity.
Gov. Kathleen Sebelius said the state's economy couldn't withstand political inflexibility in shaping new energy policy.
"There's a huge economic potential, as well as essential economic strategy, with energy," she said. "If businesses are going to invest in this state, they need to know there is reliable, affordable energy. Not now, but 10, 15, 20 years from now."
"Energy plays a more and more major role in our future," the Democrat said. "We don't really have a very robust conservation strategy. I think that will become more essential as we move along."
Rep. Tom Sloan, chairman of the Legislature's Select Joint Committee on Energy, said industry and political leaders in Kansas would be under greater pressure when the 2006 session begins Monday to make progress on a broad exploration of energy issues.
"We need to formalize an energy planning process," said Sloan, a Lawrence Republican.
By necessity, Sloan said, the special committee would place under a legislative microscope options for extending the life of oil and natural gas fields, increasing petroleum refining capacity, enhancing wind energy generation, and boosting ethanol and biodiesel production.
Policies that promote conservation also must be at the forefront of the state's long-term strategy, he said.
"It is a state economic issue," he said. "We can buy coal from Wyoming or we can buy wind from Kansans."
A new report by the Kansas Energy Council, a group appointed by the governor, said the state remained a net energy importer in 2005. Value at the wellhead of the state's oil and gas production grew to $4.6 billion, up from $3.5 billion in 2004. Drilling for oil and gas reserves was robust. Consumption of ethanol as a transportation fuel surged 700 percent over comparable periods in 2004 due to removal of labels identifying pumps with blended fuel. Interest in wind and biofuel projects intensified during the year. For now, the state's electricity comes primarily from coal, natural gas and nuclear power.
Terry Holdren, governmental relations director for the Kansas Farm Bureau, said the impact of 2005's price spikes in fuel, oil and fertilizer were deeply felt by the 40,000 farm and ranch families in the organization.
"Those increases in costs will have a disastrous impact on farm incomes across the state and dramatically impact the rural communities who rely on purchases by farm families to support their economies," he said.
Holdren said Farm Bureau members support the Legislature's adoption of "renewable portfolio standards," which have been implemented in other states to require energy retailers to derive a percentage of their fuel from renewable sources, such as ethanol, biodiesel and wind. Expanded reliance on each of these energy sources can bolster rural incomes, he said.
Bob Rhoton, managing member of Kan Agri Energy LLC, which is exploring construction of a biodiesel plant in eastern Kansas, said the state has an abundance of raw material for the manufacture of supplemental fuel drawn from animal fats or soybeans. What the state lacks, he said, are investment incentives and tax credits that stimulate production and consumption.
"Biodiesel should be a growth industry and if demand grows as projected there should be a great tax base for the state if we are proactive with the promotion and expansion of this manufacturing," Rhoton said.
Sebelius is encouraged by the possibilities of ethanol and biodiesel fuel, as well as potential for more drilling of oil and gas wells, but she is most enthusiastic about wind power.
"Except for the narrow, little strip of the Flint Hills, I want to promote and encourage wind energy every place else," the governor said.
"Community wind energy has huge potential. We've got transmission lines that are now coming over the Rockies into western Kansas, which is huge in terms of the potential then to have wind farms throughout western Kansas that ship (electricity) back over. We have plenty of wind."
Patty Clark, director of agriculture marketing and community development for the Kansas Department of Commerce, said the state's oil and gas industry shouldn't be neglected.
"Energy extraction and energy manufacturing are economic development, not just creation of energy," she said. "We believe that biofuels should not necessarily be viewed as replacing petroleum-based fuels, but rather augmenting the supply to meet an ever-increasing energy demand."
Bill Griffith, chairman of the Sierra Club in Kansas, said conservation was the least costly form of new energy and held the most realistic potential for moderating short-term natural gas and electricity prices.
He recommended the Legislature create a tax credit for landlords and homeowners to encourage energy-efficient upgrades.
Sebelius said she would ask legislators to increase spending on energy assistance programs by $5 million to help poor and working-class families conserve energy.