ORIGINAL SENATE ENGROSSED
FILE NO. 0185
ENROLLED ACT NO.
52, SENATE
FIFTY-SIXTH
LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WYOMING
2001
GENERAL SESSION
AN ACT relating to energy
development; establishing the
Wyoming energy
commission to facilitate the development,
production,
transportation, marketing and use of Wyoming's
coal, hydro,
ethanol, natural gas, oil, uranium, solar and
wind resources;
developing, promoting and researching
conservation and
renewal energy sources; providing for
reporting;
providing for an appropriation; and providing
for an effective
date.
Be It Enacted
by the Legislature of the State of Wyoming:
Section 1. W.S. 30-6-601 is created to read:
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WYOMING ENERGY COMMISSION
30-6-601. Wyoming energy commission.
(a) The Wyoming
energy commission is created.
(b) The duties
and responsibilities of the commission
are:
(i) Developing
a comprehensive Wyoming state
energy policy;
(ii) Developing
and promoting the marketing of
both raw and
beneficiated products and services;
(iii) Endeavoring
to assure a reliable, abundant
and affordable supply
of energy to meet the needs of
Wyoming people, business
and industry;
(iv) To review
and where appropriate make
recommendations to
streamline permitting timetables for the
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siting of
power plants, transmission lines, natural gas and
other energy
pipelines;
(v) To review
and where appropriate make
recommendations to
streamline permitting and development of
associated
infrastructure needs for use in remote
construction areas;
(vi) To explore
the potential, practicality and
market viability of
establishing additional utility
corridors to enhance
movement of Wyoming products and
electronic
transmissions to and from other markets, and to
make recommendations
to the legislature or an appropriate
state agency, statute
or rule and regulatory changes
necessary to meet this
goal;
(vii) To develop
markets for increased Wyoming
natural gas production
and to eliminate pipeline
constraints which
currently exist, by expanding natural gas
pipeline capacity;
(viii) Facilitating
and implementing policies to
maintain Wyoming's
competitive energy potential as the BTU
capital of the western
hemisphere;
(ix) Investigating mechanisms
to encourage
energy production,
power plant construction and value added
energy development;
(x) Communicating
with other states to determine
how Wyoming can help
meet their respective energy needs;
(xi) Striving to
develop multi-state energy
efforts and
consortiums as a way to market Wyoming energy;
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(xii) Reviewing,
and where appropriate
recommending
streamlining state rules and regulations
relating to energy
development projects, while protecting
Wyoming's environment;
(xiii) To
communicate Wyoming's energy potential
and willingness to
provide to private sector developers,
state and local
governments, federal agencies and utilities
dependable energy
supplies;
(xiv) Developing
and promoting the maximum use
of cost effective
conservation and renewable energy
resources;
(xv) Recommending
proposed research, development
and demonstration
projects and programs necessary to
evaluate the
availability and cost effectiveness of
conservation and
renewable resources in Wyoming;
(xvi) Promoting
policies that maximize economic
benefits to the people
of Wyoming regarding the development
of Wyoming's energy
resources, including promotion of
significant corporate
presence within the state;
(xvii) To support
the development of, and to
coordinate with, a
centralized grid-wide database that
tracks prospective
demand, and tracks generation and
transmission
facilities that are proposed, being permitted,
permitted or under
construction;
(xviii) To support
regional assessments of
whether, and how, gas
supplies and transmission can be
increased to meet
summer peak load demand;
(xiv) To
establish an advisory committee which
shall include three
(3) landowners and three (3) persons
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representing
entities involved in energy transmission and
transportation to
advise on private property rights-of-way,
power corridors and
just compensation issues.
(c) The
commission shall have up to fifteen (15)
members. The
commission shall consist of six (6) members of
the legislature, three
(3) from each house, to be appointed
by the leadership, two
(2) from the minority party. The
remainder of the
commission shall be appointed by the
governor with the
consultation of the joint minerals,
business and economic
development interim committee of the
legislature.
(d) The
commission shall be administered and audited
by the office of the
governor. The commission shall be paid
per diem in the same
manner as the legislators.
(e) The
commission shall provide a preliminary
progress report to the
joint minerals, business and
economic development
interim committee by December 15,
2001.
(f) This
commission shall dissolve March 1, 2005
unless extended by the
2005 legislature.
(g) The Wyoming
energy commission is authorized to
seek and utilize
matching grants, private funding and other
federal government
grants and assistance to further the
purposes of the
commission.
(h) The
commission may contract with consultants as
necessary to carry out
the purposes of this section.
Section
2. There is appropriated from the general
fund one million dollars ($1,000,000.00) to the office of
the governor for the purposes of this act.
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Section 3. This act is effective immediately upon
completion of all acts
necessary for a bill to become law
as provided by Article
4, Section 8 of the Wyoming
Constitution.
(END)
Speaker of
the House President of
the Senate
Governor
TIME APPROVED: _________
DATE APPROVED: _________
I hereby certify that this act originated in the
Senate.
Chief Clerk
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