Kansas Renewable Portfolio Standard in trouble after 2014 elections
In Kansas, Republicans may have gained enough seats in the Kansas House of Representatives to end the state’s renewable energy standard. A bill to gradually phase out the standard was defeated last year in the House only 63-60
Rep. Don Hineman, R-Dighton, a moderate who supports the standard, said the larger Republican caucus and the governor’s statements change the dynamics. In previous sessions, he and other moderates teamed with Democrats to defeat the repeal. That could be more difficult now.
Hineman, who hails from Lane County, said the policy “truly does mean jobs and economic activity and economic growth in western Kansas.”
Kansas’s policy, known as the renewable portfolio standard, requires utility companies to get 20 percent of their power from renewable sources by 2020. The standard was passed in 2009 as part of a compromise that included building a coal-fired plant in Holcomb, a project that has not developed because of federal regulations.
Category: Policy
