Clean energy? More efficient energy? Not for Arkansas.

The House Insurance Committee voted today not to recommend two bills that would improve energy efficiency and expand renewable energy in Arkansas. Though the bills had the support of the governor, the attorney general and the public service commission, and though the sponsors watered down the original versions of the bills to suit energy companies, energy companies remained opposed and had the muscle to kill the measures.

Coming into the committee meeting, supporters had little hope for Rep. Joan Cash’s bill to make utilities submit energy efficiency plans to the Public Service Commission. Under the terms of the bill, electric utilities would have  to make a good faith effort to reduce their customers’ energy bills by one percent per year starting in 2013. The utilities would not have to meet the one percent threshold, and there would not be any penalties if they fail to do so.

Sensing that the bill did not have the committee’s support, Rep. Cash pulled it down for interim study before opponents could testify.

A second bill, sponsored by Rep. Kathy Webb, would require electric companies to purchase a certain amount of its electricity supply from renewable energy sources based in Arkansas. Under the bill, a utility would buy from a private producer of solar energy, for example.  The utility would be able to recoup its costs through higher rates on the consumer. Opponents appeared spooked by the possibility that utilities would charge higher rates, though supporters said there would be savings in the long run.

Eddy Moore, a supporter from the Arkansas Citizens First Congress, said opposition to Rep. Webb’s bill came from both large industrial consumers and energy companies. Large industries do not want to pay increased energy bills, he said, while utilities are afraid of future competition from alternative energy sources.

For oil and gas industry, a stronger hand.

Although they are frequently drowned out by braying over guns in church or what have you, there have been quiet debates this session over several issues that could have an major practical impact. One such debate came to a head yesterday when the Senate voted to require that a majority of the Oil and Gas Commission be experienced in the business of oil and gas.

On its face, this is not an objectionable proposal. I’d really not paid it much mind until yesterday. You want people who know how the technology works on the commission, right? Besides, if earlier testimony on the House floor is to be trusted — not always a given, I’ve found — the Oil and Gas Commission has traditionally been controlled by a majority in the business. The current law says four members have to be experienced; the change just reflects that the commission has expanded from seven to nine in recent years.

Yet a review of the gas industry in Arkansas and look at the Oil and Gas Commission’s responsibilities brings second thoughts.

Let’s take the latter first. As stated by Arkansas Code 15-17-110, the Oil and Gas Commission is to require that wells be drilled, operated and plugged so as to “prevent the pollution of fresh water supplies and unnecessary damage to property, soil, animals, fish, or aquatic life by oil, gas, or salt water.” And witness the commission’s own mission statement:

The purpose of the Arkansas Oil and Gas Commission is to serve the public regarding oil and gas matters, prevent waste, encourage conservation, and protect the correlative rights of ownership associated with the production of oil, natural gas and brine, while protecting the environment during the production process, through the regulation and enforcement of the laws of the State of Arkansas.

In short, the Oil and Gas Commission is charged with significant stewardship over the environment. But I think it’s safe to say that clean water is not the first thing on a gas driller’s mind when there’s a bonanza to be had.

Which brings us to the current state of the gas industry in Arkansas. The Fayetteville Shale has changed the game. A majority of energy people on the Oil and Gas Commission did not have the same impact a decade ago as does now, when drilling is exploding to unheard of proportions.

Sen. Joyce Elliott, who led a floor debate against the measure yesterday afternoon, brought up some of these concerns in a later interview.

(Click the link below for Sen. Elliott’s comments.)

Lawmakers file energy conservation package.

With the exception of some global-warming squabbling in its initial weeks, this session has been conspicuously absent of energy policy. But the floodgates opened today as several lawmakers filed bills that seek to cut down on energy use and improve efficiency.

Rep. Kathy Webb, who led a press conference this afternoon to introduce the legislative package, filed a bill to establish energy-saving practices at state-owned and higher-education buildings. The current version, which is a shell bill, should gain more detail as information about Arkansas’s share of federal stimulus dollars emerges. Rep. Webb said her plan is based on a North Carolina conservation program, the Utility Savings Initiative.

Rep. Webb’s bill will work in conjunction with others filed today.

Rep. Joan Cash introduced a measure that will increase the Public Service Commission’s regulatory authority by requiring it to create efficiency standards for public utilities.

Sen. Shane Broadway offered a bill that calls for a $300 million bond issue to pay for retrofitting state agency buildings. If approved by the legislature, the bond issue would come before voters in 2010, barring an earlier special election. Voter approval would allow the state to borrow up to $60 million annually. The money would be repaid with saved energy costs.

A second wave of energy legislation is expected before the filing deadline in 10 days. One bill would change code in order to allow electric cars to be regulated as automobiles rather than motorcycles; another, which is to be sponsored by Rep. Allen Maxwell, will help homeowners install efficient energy systems.

The filing, of course, is the easy part: the package’s supporters are likely to face a stiff fight from energy producers.  Rep. Webb said she was meeting with energy representatives today and hopes to eventually gain their blessing. We shall see.

Environmental poobah speaks, few listen.

Here’s an indication of how seriously Arkansas lawmakers take energy reform: This afternoon Jerome Ringo, president of the Apollo Alliance, a clean-energy advocacy group, came to the Capitol. Ringo regularly exchanges ideas with national environmental policymakers; tomorrow he has an audience with Barack Obama to discuss alternative fuels and energy efficiency. Today, however, he spoke in front of a largely indifferent Joint Energy Committee that was missing over half its 25 members.

Those absent skipped Ringo’s presentation on how the federal economic stimulus is expected to modernize the country’s energy infrastructure. The stimulus will bring spending on retrofitted buildings, research and development of alternative fuels, commuter rail and green jobs training, he said. He believes the U.S. can create 5 million green jobs within 10 years. He even added an interesting piece of insider news: the government is considering storing nuclear waste in abandoned salt domes.

But more important than all this information, absentees squandered an opportunity to pick an expert’s brain on how to bring Arkansas energy into the 21st century.

Ringo was surprisingly upbeat about the state’s progress. He said Arkansas has done a better job on alternative energy than some states whose law mandates the use of renewable energy. (Arkansas has no such requirement.) He was particularly impressed by ADEQ’s new LEED-certified headquarters. He also said Arkansas might find an economic opportunity in producing parts for Texas wind farms.

Legislators questioned Ringo about timber and lignite as fuel sources, retrofitting homes, and how Arkansas might secure a chunk of the federal stimulus. They also discussed potential legislation to help poor homeowners improve energy efficiency in their houses.

By and large, however, today was a missed opportunity to explore how the state might advance progressive energy policy. It’s enough to wonder whether the sparsely attended Energy Committee, which has been meeting at a rate of once every two weeks, has any real purpose.

A Fayetteville Shale for South Arkansas?

Remember the word lignite. If you’re a conservationist, it may cause you nightmares. If you’re a landowner in South Arkansas, it may make you a lot of money.

Lignite, a brown coal, may not ever have the impact on the state’s economy that some want it to. It may even prove to be an infeasible energy source. But in the Joint Energy Committee this afternoon, legislators and researchers described a potential gold rush in a swath of the state from Miller County to Ashley County. Ideas presented involved strip mining and the extraction of 8 million tons of the mineral annually. Proponents say that strip-mined territory can be totally restored to its previous appearance.

“We have an incomprehensible amount of lignite that can be mined,” said Corbet Lamkin, Chancellor of Southern Arkansas University, which has been conducting research on the issue for the state.

In a long presentation, Ed Ratchford of the Arkansas Geological Survey described how lignite can be used to produce natural gas and other fuels. He estimated that the lignite under Arkansas territory could be mined without depletion for 500 years.

Economic development officials and other interested parties are trying to find a way to fund further study of South Arkansas so as to have information about lignite ready to present to energy companies. Ratchford said he would ask the state for over $1 million to pay for research. A representative from the Arkansas Economic Development Commission said the agency has asked the governor’s office for $1.5 – $2 million for a study, including $1.25 million or so from the potential federal stimulus plan.

In 2007, the legislature created a program for the study of lignite. Periodic reports such as today’s are mandated in the act.

No formal legislation was presented to the committee. But the tenor of questioning suggested that members are entertaining the ideas discussed.

Rep. John Lowery of El Dorado commended the presenters for their foresight and said the state will be in a better position to profit from rising energy prices it it invests in lignite now.