The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), a right-wing
advocacy group funded by the big oil and utility companies, is
trying to sneak one past us again. ALEC is playing off fear of
a power shortage by introducing legislation which will keep the
public completely in the dark about power plant siting decisions.
This bill benefits the utility industry at the expense of everyone
else.
The ALEC energy bill will eliminate public participation. All
authority to site power plants is consolidated in one small elite
government body that renders ultimate decisions without public
representation or input. That body is comprised of five people;
three are appointed by the governor and one is appointed by each
branch of the legislature. Noticeably absent is a public advocate
or elected official. All decisions can be made with only three
people present, and by a three-vote majority. The siting board
is purposely structured for gubernatorial appointees to have ultimate
control, and the legislative representatives don't even need to
show up. Under this structure, legislative appointees and the
public have little or no power.
The ALEC act will keep the public in the dark. If a member of
the public wants information from the siting board, that person
will need to pay money to get it. If the siting board doesn't
want to give out public information, it can refuse by deeming
the information a "trade secret" or "privileged,
confidential, or proprietary information." In short, the
workings of the siting board are not subject to public scrutiny.
The board has the right to refuse testimony at a public hearing
by calling it "repetitive or cumulative."
The Power Plant Siting Act is intended to push new power plants
against the public will. The siting board can override all local
siting and zoning decisions. They simply have to decide that the
law passed by local officials is "too restrictive."
Under the ALEC timeline, a power plant could be sited in a month
and a week. In other words, a power company could apply for a
site the week before Memorial Day and break ground the week after
the Fourth of July. This is not a responsible process.
We need our legislatures to think responsibly about energy policy,
and to serve the public -- not the corporate -- interest.
Ran 2/17/2004
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