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Energy Committee advances battery, setback and energy‑policy bills; one bill repeals little‑used state program
Summary
The House Energy Committee advanced four energy bills and laid over one, moving measures on battery stewardship, generation and storage setbacks and repeal of a county provision of the Energy Savings Act to oversight.
The House Energy Committee moved multiple energy bills forward and adopted technical changes on Wednesday. The committee reported several measures to oversight or declared them to pass after voice votes or roll calls; one bill was laid over.
Battery stewardship: House Bill 19 07, the Battery Stewardship Act, was explained to the committee as a producer‑responsibility proposal to shift end‑of‑life management for portable batteries from consumers and municipalities to producers. The sponsor said the bill aims to increase battery collection, reduce landfill fires caused by improperly disposed batteries and reclaim metals used by Oklahoma businesses. The committee adopted an amendment addressing industry concerns and then reported the bill as passing with a committee vote of 8 aye and 1 nay. The chair said, “Representative, with a vote of 8 I and 1 nay, we will declare your bill to pass.”
Setbacks for generation and storage: House Bill 21 56 (setbacks for solar generation and industrial battery storage) was considered with an adopted amendment that changed setbacks to residential dwellings from 500 (feet) back to 3 (hundreds? — the amendment text as read referenced changing the setback figure). After the amendment was adopted without objection, the committee reported the bill to pass by voice vote, 10 aye and 0 nay.
State program repeal: House Bill 20 37, a measure to repeal the Oklahoma County portion of the Energy Savings Act (Title 62), was presented as removing a provision the sponsor said is not widely used because municipalities rely on other Title 62 programs. The committee reported the bill as due pass after a recorded vote of 9 aye and 2 nay.
Energy Discrimination Act change: House Bill 20 43, a bill seeking to exclude municipalities and counties from the Energy Discrimination Act (replacing the phrase “governmental entity” with “state agency” in the relevant text), was reported to have passed the committee with a vote of 11 aye and 0 nay. The sponsor said the measure would allow local governments to finance projects without certain restrictions in that statute.
Laid over: The committee laid over House Bill 21 79 for future consideration.
Votes at a glance
- HB 19 07 (Battery Stewardship Act): Reported to pass, committee vote 8 aye, 1 nay. Action: pass to oversight committee. - HB 21 56 (Setbacks for solar and industrial battery storage): Reported to pass, committee vote 10 aye, 0 nay. Action: pass to oversight committee. - HB 20 37 (repeal — Oklahoma County portion of Energy Savings Act, Title 62): Reported as due pass, committee vote 9 aye, 2 nay. Action: pass to oversight committee. - HB 20 43 (exclude municipalities and counties from Energy Discrimination Act): Reported to pass, committee vote 11 aye, 0 nay. Action: pass to oversight committee.
The committee chair instructed members who had paperwork to file to submit it to oversight committees; the meeting then adjourned.
