Unfortunately the Groundhog Day snowstorm caused the cancellation of the NREA Legislative Conference and put a hitch in the Legislative schedule for the Unicameral. While no business was conducted on Tuesday, they did convene with just enough members to put the 18th Legislative Day on the books. All hearings that were scheduled for February 2 will now be heard in the morning on February 9. The hearing schedule is posted on the Unicameral Website.
The big downside of not having a Legislative Conference means not having the opportunity to take positions on bills of interest with the entire NREA Board participating. The Legislative Committee of NREA will need to meet in a series of conference calls in order to take positions and will act on behalf of the NREA Board in accordance with our by-laws.
Even with bad weather the work must go on. On Thursday, February 4, LB 736 was heard by the Natural Resources Committee. LB 736, will allow all Nebraska Utilities the ability to purchase energy from a Community-Based Energy Development project. The bill was introduced on behalf of NREA by Senator Curt Friesen of Henderson. Rick Nelson, General Manager of Custer Public Power District provided support testimony on behalf of NREA. I provided brief testimony as well on behalf of NREA and the Nebraska Power Association (NPA). The bill had no opposition and it is hoped that it will be considered for Consent Calendar. Consent Calendar is a "fast track" agenda of bills that are non controversial and have no fiscal impact to the state. LB 736 fits the bill! We are grateful for Senator Friesen's support on this issue.
It was a quiet day in the Natural Resources Hearing room, mostly because the Governor's Property Tax Relief Package, LB 958 was being heard at the same time by the Revenue Committee across the hall. While our hearing lasted less than 15 minutes, LB 958 went well into the night.
On Monday, February 8, the Transportation and Telecommunications Committee will hear LB 973, NREA's bill dealing with the movement of over-sized loads and the penalties associated with violations for failure to notify and for manipulating the utility infrastructure. (See my 1/15 blog post). Niobrara Valley's manager, John Hoke will provide testimony on behalf of NREA and the NPA. It is my hope that all of NREA's member-systems weigh in on this important safety issue. Our Bill sponsor, Chairman of the Transportation and Telecommunications Committee, Jim Smith from Omaha is keenly aware of the safety concerns addressed by LB 973. Senator Smith is a former employee of the Omaha Public Power District. Many thanks to Senator Smith for taking on this issue on our behalf.
I have the duty of serving as the NPA Legislative Subcommittee Chair. This committee coordinates the efforts of all the electric utilities on legislative issues of interest to the electric industry. We have been working closely with Senator McCollister and representatives of the wind industry to work on language to modify LB 824 (See 1/27 Blog Post). We received a copy of their "compromise"language on Wednesday and were told we should reply by noon Thursday. When you are trying to coordinate multiple organizations to come up with a response on a complex bill such as LB 824, 24 hours is not much time. We were able to extend that deadline until noon today. After much "cat herding" and four conference calls and multiple drafts later, a response was sent to the bill sponsor and the Committee Chair. Now we wait for their reaction, as well as the language addressing concerns of the Nebraska Power Review Board. This is not a simple process. When it comes to making fundamental changes to laws regulating electric generation and understanding the impacts it will have on electric customers, it is best to take a thoughtful approach and not try to rush the passage. Without significant changes as proposed by the members of NPA, the industry would need to oppose the bill.
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