House panel schedules final vote on bill to require annual energy-transition impact report

The House Energy and Digital Infrastructure Committee discussed H.125 (draft 3.1) on March 12, a bill that would require the Secretary of Natural Resources, in consultation with multiple state agencies, to publish an initial “energy transition economic impacts” report on or before Dec. 15, 2025, and annually thereafter.

Representative Kathleen James, sponsor of H.125 and the committee chair, told members the committee “is hoping to vote out [the bill] tomorrow.” The draft assigns responsibility to the Secretary of Natural Resources to work with named agencies — the Agency of Agriculture, Food and Markets; the Department of Public Service; the Agency of Transportation; the Department of Labor; the Agency of Commerce and Community Development; and the Department of Taxes — to compile and publish the report.

Committee members spent the session defining what the report should include and debating the scope and cost. The draft calls for the initial report to provide five years of historical data and for annual updates to add the prior year’s data. Enumerated items in the draft include current and forecasted electric rates; the number of customers on electric vehicle…