CFACT’s three “model bills” cleared a big hurdle at a recent American Legislative Exchange Council meeting in Denver. The three bills — designed to strengthen grid reliability, protect ratepayers, and discourage land grabs by big companies and foreign governments – each cleared the Environment, Energy, and Agriculture Task Force committee with strong support and now move to final (and likely) approval. Model bills are important as they are sent, after approval by ALEC, to conservative and libertarian-leaning legislators in all 50 states to be considered for submission in their legislative bodies.
Former Wisconsin legislator Frank Lasee, who crafted the three model bills along with CFACT President Craig Rucker, was well pleased with the outcome. “We expected there to be a little pushback on one or two of them, and there was. But in the end, all of our bills received strong support, and we were definitely pleased with the outcome,” said Lasee.
The first CFACT model bill was introduced by South Dakota representative Julie Auch and titled the “Natural Asset Company Prohibition Act”. It was designed to stop companies (some foreign, including China) from profiting through the purchase and locking up U.S. lands for no meaningful purpose other than to stop farming, ranching, or resource extraction. The Securities and Exchange Commission toyed with the idea of listing NACs on the New York Stock Exchange last fall. However, their action created a firestorm led by the CFACT’s ally, the American Stewards for Liberty, which forced the SEC to withdraw its proposal. CFACT’s “Natural Asset Company Prohibition Act”, if ultimately adopted by numerous states, will serve as a disincentive to create and operate such NACs in important regions of the USA.
The second CFACT model bill champions the creation of a “consumer advocate” to represent ratepayer interests at Public Service (Utility) meetings in various states. Dubbed the Ratepayer Affordability and Reliability Advocacy Act, this bill was introduced by Representatives Jeanine Notter and Michael Vos of New Hampshire and received unanimous support from ALEC attendees. Many states already have such a consumer advocacy board, often called a CUB (Citizens Utility Board), but the bill has become necessary because many of these CUBs have become co-opted by climate activists who seek to promote political rather than ratepayer interests. CFACT’s model bill focuses a consumer advocate’s responsibility down to one purpose: To secure for utility customers the most reliable source of electricity at the cheapest price.
The third model bill, entitled Truth in Electricity Generation Labeling Act and introduced by Jack Colin of Utah, seeks to provide “Truth in Labeling” to power generation facilities. This has become important because, in many instances, renewable power facilities “sell” themselves as being able to provide 100 MW or so of electricity but, in actuality, only deliver about a quarter to a third of that amount in the real world. This bill would require them — as well as nuclear, coal, natural gas, and hydro units — to showcase not just their peak performance capabilities but also how much of the time purchasers can expect they will produce no output whatsoever.
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