Bredesen, Lawmakers Unveil Clean Energy Future Act

 

NASHVILLE — Governor Phil Bredesen and a bipartisan group of legislators, joined by members of the Governor’s Task Force on Energy Policy, today unveiled sweeping new legislation designed to make the Volunteer State a national leader in energy efficiency and clean energy technology.

 

The Tennessee Clean Energy Future Act of 2009 — sponsored by Senators Jim Kyle, Randy McNally, Andy Berke and Ken Yager, and Representatives Les Winningham, Joe McCord, Jim Hackworth and Phillip Johnson — is a wide-ranging bill tackling several major recommendations by the Governor’s energy task force, created in March 2008. Last summer and fall, Bredesen traveled the state with the 16-member panel to craft a comprehensive new energy policy for Tennessee. The group’s extensive work can be viewed at www.tn.gov/energy.

 

“Today’s bill is the result of countless hours of public meetings involving dozens of experts and hundreds of stakeholders from across Tennessee,” Bredesen said. “It promotes energy savings for state government and consumers across Tennessee, it encourages the development of clean energy technology jobs, and it happens to be the right thing to do for energy and the environment.”

 

He added: “It’s a bold, bipartisan step toward ensuring the Volunteer State’s clean energy future.”

 

Key components of the legislation — set to be filed this week as an amendment rewriting Senate Bill 2300 and House Bill 2318 — include:

 

·         Requiring state government to “lead by example” with improved energy management of its buildings and passenger motor vehicle fleet;

 

·         Encouraging job creation in the clean energy technology sector by making qualified businesses eligible for Tennessee’s existing emerging industry tax credit; and

 

·         Promoting energy efficiency in newly constructed homes with a limited statewide residential building code and expanding eligibility for federal funds used to “weatherize” existing homes in low-income areas.

 

In addition to the Clean Energy Future Act, Bredesen in February proposed a new solar research institute at the University of Tennessee and Oak Ridge National Laboratory to complement major solar-industry investments in the state.

 

Funding for the solar institute — and related items including clean energy workforce development initiatives, electric vehicle infrastructure, and public energy-efficiency awareness programs — will be included in an amendment to the proposed 2009-10 state budget. Those measures are expected to be funded using existing state dollars that are restricted to energy-related purposes or new federal funds included in President Obama’s American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.

 

“Together, these legislative and budget measures represent a comprehensive series of clean energy improvements and investments,” Bredesen said. “As a state known for its energy innovation and blessed with an abundance of natural resources, Tennessee can and should be a leader in setting the national clean energy agenda.”

 

He added: “I look forward to working with the General Assembly to move ahead with this common-sense set of proposals.”