Bill Text: FL S2598 | 2010 | Regular Session | Introduced

Florida Senate Bill 2598 (Prior Session Legislation)

Introduced

Bill Title: Alternative Energy Resources Study [EPSC]

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)

Status: (Failed) 2010-04-30 - Died in Committee on Communications, Energy, and Public Utilities [S2598 Detail]

Download: Florida-2010-S2598-Introduced.html

 
Florida Senate - 2010                                    SB 2598 
 
By Senator Bennett 
21-01697A-10                                          20102598__ 
1                        A bill to be entitled 
2         An act relating to a study of alternative energy 
3         resources; providing legislative findings; requiring 
4         the Century Commission for a Sustainable Florida to 
5         contract with a professional organization to study an 
6         alternative energy policy for the state and develop a 
7         renewable energy and economic development investment 
8         plan; setting forth the subjects to be studied by the 
9         contracting organization; requiring that the 
10         contracting organization submit a final report to the 
11         Governor, the President of the Senate, and the Speaker 
12         of the House of Representatives by a specified date; 
13         providing an effective date. 
14 
15  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 
16 
17         Section 1. Strategy for promoting alternative energy 
18  resources.— 
19         (1)(a) The Legislature finds that the energy industry in 
20  the United States and throughout the industrialized world is 
21  moving toward the use of cleaner alternative energy sources, 
22  such as wind, solar, biomass, and geothermal, which reduce the 
23  emission of pollutants and carbon dioxide, as well as reduce 
24  dependence on imported fossil fuels. The Legislature also finds 
25  that other states have taken steps to hasten this shift to 
26  alternative energy sources, using a variety of incentives, 
27  regulations, and other policy tools to stimulate alternative 
28  energy resource activities for both environmental and economic 
29  reasons, principally job creation. 
30         (b) The Legislature finds that this state offers tax 
31  exemptions to buyers and owners of alternative energy equipment 
32  but other incentive programs in the state are fragmented and are 
33  mostly developed and implemented by local counties or private 
34  utilities. The Legislature finds that if an effective statewide 
35  alternative energy policy were implemented to encourage the 
36  adoption of alternative energy resources, the result could 
37  simultaneously increase the state’s renewable energy generation 
38  capacity and create jobs for residents of this state. 
39         (2) As a part of the efforts to design an effective 
40  alternative energy resource policy for the state, the 
41  Legislature intends that, subject to available resources, the 
42  Century Commission for a Sustainable Florida shall contract with 
43  SRI International to study an alternative energy policy for the 
44  state and develop a renewable energy and economic development 
45  investment plan. For the study, SRI International shall: 
46         (a) Review all locally available literature, including SRI 
47  International’s in-house research and databases, to lay out the 
48  range of alternative energy policy and program options, focusing 
49  on each option’s relative merits and limitations. 
50         (b) Examine the alternative energy policies of other states 
51  or regions which encourage alternative energy use, and assess 
52  the policies or programs that are in place. In order to 
53  distinguish and examine the more effective policies, SRI 
54  International shall gather data on several benchmark states that 
55  exhibit best practices in alternative energy policy. 
56         (c) After identifying the different policy approaches used 
57  to promote alternative energy, evaluate the details of the 
58  approaches that have been the most successful for stimulating 
59  investment in and adoption of alternative energy resources. 
60         (d) Conduct interviews with stakeholders in the development 
61  of an alternative energy policy to discuss and solicit feedback 
62  regarding various policy and program options for an alternative 
63  energy policy. 
64         (3) SRI International shall submit a final report to the 
65  Governor, the President of the Senate, and the Speaker of the 
66  House of Representatives by January 15, 2011. The final report 
67  must include: 
68         (a) Summaries of the interviews. 
69         (b) An analysis of the alternative energy policies of the 
70  other states. 
71         (c) An analysis of the alternative energy policies of the 
72  State of Florida. 
73         (d) A description of the basic structure and optional parts 
74  of an alternative energy plan for use in this state. 
75         (e) An initial set of recommendations for consideration and 
76  implementation by the Governor and Legislature. 
77 
78  The Legislature intends that the report recommend a set of well 
79  designed, actionable, and appropriate policies based on SRI 
80  International’s research to promote alternative energy and 
81  statewide job growth in this state. In particular, the 
82  recommendations should include whether incentive programs or 
83  regulatory requirements should be implemented and how such 
84  efforts can be integrated into existing alternative energy 
85  research being conducted at Florida universities. 
86         Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2010.