Tarr amendment would expand oversight, require DOER reporting and raise board powers

Senator Tarr presented Amendment 34 as a consolidated package to increase transparency, oversight and accountability in the bill. The amendment would require the Department of Energy Resources to report at least twice a year on costs shifted to electric ratepayers from energy and utility procurements, with the stated aim of preventing surprise charges on consumer bills.

The amendment also would add two seats to the Energy Efficiency Advisory Council — reserving one for a small business ratepayer representative and another for an independent consumer‑advocacy group focused on affordability — and make the Financial Oversight and Energy Efficiency Management Board permanent while increasing its membership and giving it binding powers to approve, modify or reject the statewide decarbonization plan and related budgets. It would expand the thermal energy working group's membership to include industry practitioners and accelerate the group's reporting timeline to one year from enactment. The amendment also seeks to strike language that would allow the state to override local municipal procurement and siting autonomy.

Senator Tarr framed the proposal around transparency and accountability and moved for a recorded vote. Senators debated the measure; the transcript records the order for yeas and nays and extended discussion about the amendment's scope and local autonomy provisions.