The state House is scheduled to take up a number of energy-related bills on Wednesday.
It’s a day set aside as “energy day” and the House of Representatives will begin consideration of the energy bills beginning at 1:30 p.m. Among the bills, according to a Facebook posting by Rep. Jim Shaw, will be wind turbine and solar/battery setbacks. He said it will likely be a long day as the House considers several of the energy bills.
Groups that formed in opposition to more wind farms and solar projects have used Facebook to notify their members of the day. One member of the “No Wind Turbines Lincoln County” urged members to attend the Wednesday House session, saying it is time to take their efforts across the finish line within the House of Representatives.
One such bill that possibly could be on the agenda is SB269, a carbon capture bill that drew some opposition when it passed last week in the State Senate. Authored by Tulsa Sen. Dave Rader, the same legislator whose carbon capture bill was signed into law in 2023 by Gov. Kevin Stitt, paved the way for Oklahoma to join Arkansas and Louisiana in the attempted approval of a regional hydrogen hub. It did not win the support of the Federal government.
Opponents to carbon capture raised the question of possible pollution of acquifers in the state. But carbon capture has its supporters in the state, including U.S. Sen. James Lankford, who in February helped introduce the Enhancing Energy Recovery Act (S.425) which would create parity under the Section 45Q carbon capture tax credit. During Senate debate, Rader explained that the Governor and Energy Secretary Jeff Starling supported the carbon capture efforts in the state.
Oklahoma is already the site of the nation’s largest carbon capture project. Situated in Osage County and known as CapturePoint, the project received $18.7 million in federal funding in January. The hub is a project led by researchers at the University of Oklahoma and Los Alamos National Laboratory. It will rely on a project called the Bantam site located near Shidler and opened by carbon capture company Heimdal in August.
Another bill that might be considered is HB2747, the bill authored by Rep. Trey Caldwell. The bill would favor natural gas for power generation projects but opponents argue it would also restrict competition. Thus, they call it a Right of First Refusal bill or ROFR, but Rep. Caldwell has maintained it is not such a measure.
This is also a deadline week for bills to have been considered in their house of origin.