Is House Bill 3 The Best It Can Be?

Members of KFTC under the banner of The Kentucky Sustainable Energy Alliance (KySEA) have been enthusiastically supporting HB 408, legislation introduced by Rep. Harry Moberly (see blog post 2.9.10)

On the last day that new bills could be introduced Rep. Rocky Adkins filed  House Bill 3 as a "clean energy bill." Although HB 3 includes new supports for energy efficiency and renewable energy by setting mandatory standards, at heart it is more of an extension of HB 1, "The Peabody Bill".

House Bill 3 does this by creating a new category of energy called "low carbon" and extends previously created tax incentives under HB 1 to include low carbon energy. Though not labeled as such, low carbon energy could also include nuclear energy. 

These two bills represent two different visions for Kentucky's future.

In general, HB 3 focuses more on centralized power generation and increasing the efficiency of the generation and distribution infrastructure, with little support for the end user, especially low-income households.

HB 408, on the other hand, makes energy efficiency Kentucky’s top energy priority.  It assists the elderly and the poor.  It seeks to make efficiency and renewables available to all.  HB 408 is similar to legislation already enacted in Ohio, Illinois, Missouri and North Carolina. And while both bills strive to create new jobs, HB 3 will likely concentrate those jobs.  HB 408 will make more jobs statewide.

 Both bills are currently in the House Natural Resources Committee, and while HB 408 has yet to be called up for discussion by Chairman Gooch, HB 3 is likely to be heard and passed on Thursday, March 11.

For more information on how the two bills compare, visit the KySEA website: http://www.kysea.org/blog/is-house-bill-3-the-best-it-can-be.

Call or write your Legislator and ask that Kentucky pass energy legislation that makes energy efficiency, including low-income Kentuckians, a priority and makes energy efficiency, renewable energy and the jobs they create available to all Kentuckians.