Senate nears vote on energy bill

Suzanne Struglinski

Friday, July 29, 2005 | 9:42 a.m.

WASHINGTON -- The Senate is debating a final version of the energy bill this morning and is likely to vote on it later today.

The House passed the final version Thursday, with Nevada's lawmaker sticking to the positions they did on the original bill passed earlier this year.

Republican Reps. Jim Gibbons and Jon Porter voted for it, Democratic Rep. Shelley Berkley voted against it.

The final bill includes geothermal provisions submitted by Gibbons, who voted for the bill.

The bill simplifies the leasing process for geothermal production and modifies federal royalty requirements to make royalty payments more predictable and less bureaucratic, according to Gibbons' office. It will also increase the state and local government royalty share and make payments quicker. Counties can also get a 25 percent share of the royalty payments for the first time.

The bill also extends a tax credit for geothermal energy production through Dec. 31, 2007, which will encourage new geothermal production, according to Gibbons' office.

"Geothermal energy diversifies our nation's energy portfolio with a renewable resource and its development will create new jobs throughout the West," Gibbons said. "Unless geothermal power derived from public land is more competitive with other power sources, little of Nevada's geothermal potential will ever be developed."

There are nine geothermal plants located on federal land in Nevada that could benefit from this bill, according to Gibbons' office.

Porter said the bill's program will help decrease the country's dependence on foreign sources of energy.

Berkley continued her opposition to the bill by voting against the final version.

"After four years, is this the best that we can do for Nevada and the rest of America?" Berkley said.

She supported the renewable components of the bill, but it was not enough to override her objections to numerous provisions that encourage new nuclear power plants, which she says will just create more waste to be stored at Yucca Mountain.

"Rather than a Marshall Plan for American energy independence, this legislation reads like a thank-you note to gas, oil and nuclear industry donors whose checks have financed the campaigns of George Bush and the Republican leaders in Congress," Berkley said. "Then again, what else can we expect from a plan developed in secret meetings led by Vice President Dick Cheney and dominated by big oil and nuclear interests?"