LANSING – Three of the four bills in the House energy package moved one step, at least procedurally, closer to the governor’s desk Thursday. But it was still not clear after the Senate Energy Policy and Public Utilities Committee’s action what the bills might look like as they move back to the House, or when the full Senate may approve the package.

Those supporting the package that would give greater market power to the state’s major utilities praised the committee’s action, but those seeking more customer choice in the market were “dumbfounded” by the move.

Where those groups will be on the bills once the Senate is completed with them is still in question. The 5-3 vote on the three bills (HB 5524 , HB 5548 , HB 5549 ) included opposition from three of the five Republicans on the panel.

Sen. Bruce Patterson (R-Canton), chair of the committee, said he supports the goals of the legislation, but would offer amendments on the Senate floor to overcome certain concerns he still had.

“I can’t say this will be the final product,” he said after the meeting. “This package of bills, while it may be changed on the floor, takes us in the right direction.”

But he said efforts are needed to ensure there is new generation built in the state. “My concern has been and continues to be there’s a finite amount of capital out there,” he said.

He said there were also negatives to the complete deregulation of generation that some parties sought: the open market is subject to some fairly substantial cost peaks. “When that happens a lot of people are not in a position to afford electricity,” he said.

Moving the bills Thursday was in large part an effort to get the rest of the Senate involved in the process, Patterson said. But he further backed off the idea that the package might be done before the summer break, saying he expected the senators would take the summer to familiarize themselves with the package.

“The caucus is going to need to take some time,” said Matt Marsden, spokesperson for Senate Majority Leaders Mike Bishop (R-Rochester). He expected the caucus would begin discussing the bills next week and that there would be calls for some changes.

And the package is not yet complete. Patterson indicated he did not plan to move HB 5525 , which requires energy efficiency programs funded by a surcharge on utility customers. But he is planning to move legislation to address net metering (SB 1246 ) and expects to incorporate into the package some legislation already on the Senate floor.

While admitting the committee action Thursday will get the package moving, several sources indicated putting the bills on the Senate floor in incomplete form was an effort by Patterson to pressure Mr. Bishop into calling for action on a local government annexation package Patterson is supporting.

Patterson could not be reached after the meeting for comment on that matter and Marsden declined to comment on this assertion.

The committee made relatively few changes to the bills as they came from the House, which drew the opposition from Sen. Patricia Birkholz (R-Saugatuck), Sen. Cameron Brown (R-Fawn River Twp.) and Sen. Wayne Kuipers (R-Holland).

Birkholz had offered an amendment that would have stripped many of the disputed provisions from HB 5524, including the cap on customer choice, the provision allowing the utilities to collect stranded costs and the additional staff for the Public Service Commission. The amendment also would have given the PSC more time to review utility rate filings and for the subsidy residential rates to be removed from commercial and industrial rates. But Patterson was the only one to join her on that amendment.

It appears clear that a provision in that amendment that would have removed language giving the governor more authority over the PSC will return on the Senate floor.

The committee did amend the bill to cap the increases on residential rates due to deskewing at 2.5 percent a year. It also required that utilities include considerations for seniors and low-income residents in their rate filings and made some provisions for smaller utilities.

In addition to the interim renewables steps added to HB 5548 at a prior meeting, the committee also amended both that bill and HB 5549 to treat municipal utilities separately, though still requiring them to comply with the RPS standards.

APPLIANCES: The committee also approved, on a 6-2 vote, legislation that would require the Public Service Commission to create energy efficiency standards for appliances that are not already covered under federal standards.

As reported, the list of appliances to be regulated was smaller because some had been addressed by federal standards since the bill (SB 7 ) was originally drafted.

The substitute also requires the PSC to make annual reports on the issue and point out new technology that is not yet covered by federal energy standards.

This story was provided by Gongwer News Service. To subscribe, click on Gongwer.Com

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