Energy and Technology committee raises eight bills amid battery-storage safety and EV-bus concerns
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Summary
The Energy and Technology Committee voted to raise eight concept bills — including a community renewable generation bill that includes battery storage and the governor's solar permitting bill — after debate over battery-storage safety, local siting input and potential costs of EV school-bus mandates.
The Energy and Technology Committee voted by voice to raise eight concept bills after a lengthy morning session that included spirited debate over battery-storage safety and concerns about state mandates for electric school buses.
Chair opened the session by saying the short legislative session limited opportunities to raise bills but noted eight items were being considered, ranging from a community renewable generation systems bill that includes solar plus possible storage, to the governor's bill on solar-permitting uniformity, a working group on statewide transmission and interconnection planning, a measure to enable state participation in the federal Lifeline program, district-heating incentives tied to a Bridgeport project, rules on utility excavation projects, and a placeholder bill concerning nuclear energy.
Representative Buckley urged more discussion before sending the bills to hearings, focusing much of his remarks on battery-storage safety and local input. "We need to pump the brakes and get it done properly before any new battery storage is built in this state, period," Buckley said, citing local concerns about siting near aquifers and rivers and referencing large-scale battery fires in California. He also pressed for local-fire-department participation in siting discussions so crews would have training and equipment to respond.
Members and the chair said safety and environmental concerns are being taken seriously while also stressing the committee's interest in facilitating innovation. The chair said the Palisades fire "was not caused by batteries" and highlighted in-state efforts to build storage systems "using lithium that do not cascade into fires," and said the committee should balance caution with avoiding undue barriers to technology that can help manage intermittency and peak demand.
Discussion also turned to transportation and the potential effects of EV school-bus mandates. Buckley warned mandates could carry steep local costs, arguing that vehicle weight could strain bridges and roads and that charging during peak hours would increase operating costs. "When you talk about EV mandates for school buses, the weight of those buses is gonna affect every single 1 of those bridges," he said, urging consideration of incentives rather than mandates.
On procedure, the chair proposed — and the committee agreed — to raise all eight items by voice vote. Members present said "aye," the chair declared the motion carried and said the clerk would leave the vote record open for any additional tallies or formal recording.
Next steps: the committee recessed until 1 p.m. and scheduled another meeting for next Tuesday at noon in room 1D, where the bills are expected to move into hearings and further debate.
What was not decided: the floor action raised the concepts for hearings; no final policy decisions, statutory language, or binding mandates were adopted in this meeting.
