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Senate shifts certain FERC payments into Renewable Energy Resource Fund
Summary
Senate Bill 10-20, which directs certain FERC licensee assessments to the Renewable Energy Resource Fund to support the Office of Energy and Mineral Resources, passed the Senate 35-0 on Feb. 18, 2025.
Senate Bill 10-20 passed the Idaho Senate unanimously, 35-0, on Feb. 18, 2025. The measure directs assessments or royalties collected from Federal Energy Regulatory Commission licensees to be remitted to the Renewable Energy Resource Fund rather than the general fund.
Sen. Harris, the floor sponsor, said the change formalizes an existing practice and would provide roughly $150,000 annually to the Office of Energy and Mineral Resources to support coordination on National Environmental Policy Act reviews and other federal licensing processes. Harris said hydropower and mining account for the majority of NEPA projects in Idaho and that many FERC licenses will require relicensing in the coming decades.
"This is to help the Office of Energy and Mineral Resources do their duty in leading the state's coordinated engagement with NEPA projects," Harris said, adding that the dedicated Renewable Energy Resource Fund was established in February 2009 and had been largely depleted.
Harris said the bill "will not change any existing programs or cause any new implementation expenditures" and that no increased appropriation was necessary. The Senate approved the bill's title and will transmit SB 10-20 to the House of Representatives.
