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House State Affairs advances bill letting large power users competitively source energy, citing ratepayer protections
Summary
After hours of testimony, the House State Affairs Committee advanced House Bill 395, which would let large commercial power users competitively source electricity and assign upfront grid costs to those users. Supporters call it a ratepayer protection; utilities and industry warn it could hinder large economic development projects.
Representative Dan Garner, sponsor of House Bill 395, told the House State Affairs Committee the bill would require new large electricity users to secure power on the competitive market and bear the costs of any new generation or grid upgrades needed to serve them.
"What you have before you today is House Bill 395. It's a ratepayer protection bill that requires any large energy user over 10 megawatts to basically do like we have developers do. They pay their own way," Representative Garner said.
The bill would set a 10-megawatt threshold for the special sourcing option and includes a planning horizon Garner described as 10 years for utilities to adjust. Garner and other supporters said the measure aims to prevent existing customers from absorbing the cost of new, very large loads.
Opponent…
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