Committee approves minutes, sets member/committee bill deadlines and accepts RS 0255 on parallel generation

The Committee on Energy, Utilities and Telecommunications approved the minutes from its Jan. 21 meeting by unanimous consent and received staff guidance on bill‑request deadlines before accepting an introduction of RS 0255.

The chair opened the meeting by asking for objections to the Jan. 21 minutes and—"Not seeing anything, the minutes are approved from January 21st," he said. Committee staff and members then confirmed key bill‑request dates: Emphasis was placed on Monday, Jan. 27 as the last day for individual members to request member‑sponsored bills (requests to the Revisor's office by 5 p.m.) and Monday, Feb. 3 as the last day for committee requests to receive an RS number for committee sponsorship.

With that procedural business completed, Jessica Lucas, speaking on behalf of the Clean Energy Business Council, requested introduction of RS 0255. She said, "With your permission, would request Jessica Lucas on behalf of the Clean Energy Business Council with introduction of RS 0255, and this is an act pertaining to the parallel generation statute." The chair asked for objections and, hearing none, said the bill had been introduced.

Actions taken at the meeting were procedural: approval of minutes by unanimous consent and acceptance of the RS 0255 introduction. No substantive debate on RS 0255 occurred at this meeting; the introducer described it only as concerning the parallel generation statute.

Ending: The chair announced next meeting items (rural broadband and oil-and-gas industry updates) and adjourned; no final committee votes on bills took place at this session beyond the procedural approval and introduction noted above.