Representative Jim Ward

BY JEANNINE KORANDA
Eagle Topeka bureau

The state's top executives unveiled a proposal to boost renewable energy and attract "green jobs" Friday, trying to broaden an energy debate dominated by discussion of coal-fired plants in western Kansas.

Gov. Kathleen Sebelius described her plan as a bridge that could carry the state until clean coal technology is a reality.

Senate President Stephen Morris, R-Hugoton, said he supports many of the ideas but that coal needs to be part of the mix to meet the state's future energy needs.

The four-point legislative plan would:

• Allow Kansas consumers to generate their own electricity and, through net metering, sell any surplus back to power companies.

• Make mandatory a voluntary program started in 2006 to have 20 percent of the state's energy come from renewable resources, such as solar and wind, by 2020. A goal of 10 percent by 2010 already has been met.

• Require that new state buildings or leased buildings meet energy-efficiency standards.

• Create a bond program, similar to the package used to lure Cessna to build its new business jet in Wichita, that would help attract solar and wind manufacturing jobs to Kansas.

"The energy crisis that our country faces is really a tremendous opportunity for Kansans," said Lt. Gov. Mark Parkinson, a Democrat.

By making the right decisions now, Kansas could become a leader in producing renewable power for the state and country while attracting new jobs, he said.

The state has had tremendous success with a voluntary standard for increasing renewable energy, he said. A little more than a year ago, the state had 385 megawatts of renewable electricity, or about 3 percent of the capacity. Just last month, it started generating more than 1,000 megawatts.

"Now it is time to make it mandatory," he said.

Rep. Don Myers, R-Derby, who sits on the House Utilities Committee, said the standards should remain voluntary. He equated telling power companies how to produce their energy to telling aviation companies how many airplanes to build.

Parkinson said codifying the voluntary standards could attract jobs from companies that manufacture wind turbine or solar equipment. One of the other proposals aims to give those companies a financial incentive to build their products here.

The plan would allow the companies to use state bonds, which would be repaid with employee withholding taxes. The proposal would not cost extra money, since the state would not have those taxes without the new jobs, Sebelius said.

Morris, who helped craft the Cessna package, supported that idea. "It's not the only way, but I think it is a way of attracting business," he said.

But Morris said coal needs to be included in any comprehensive energy plan.

"We will continue to need more and more electricity," he said. "We cannot put our heads in the sand and say we have plenty of power, because we don't."

Much of the legislative last session focused on coal power -- specifically lawmakers' efforts to push through permits for two new coal-fired power plants near Holcomb.

Some components of this year's proposal from the governor's office were attached to the coal plant proposals last year. Lawmakers passed three, and Sebelius vetoed each bill and with them the "green" components.

House Assistant Minority Leader Jim Ward, D-Wichita, said he hoped that not everything would be "run through the coal filter" this year and the ideas would be allowed to pass or fail on their own merits.

"Don't hold up good energy ideas because you don't get the piece that you want," he said.

The legislative components are part of Sebelius' comprehensive energy strategy. She will discuss additional aspects of the plan in her State of the State address scheduled for 7 p.m. Monday.

Contributing: The Associated Press