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Regular Session, 2012
HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTI ON NO. 128
BY REPRESENTATIVE LEGER
A CONCURRENT RESOLUTI ON
To urge and request the Department of Transportation and Development to study the effects
of hydrokinetic turbines on infrastructure and to report the results to the House
Committee on Transportation, Highways and Public Works, the House Committee
on Natural Resources and Environment, the Senate Committee on Transportation,
Highways and Public Works, and the Senate Committee on Natural Resources prior
to the convening of the 2013 Regular Session of the Legislature of Louisiana.
WHEREAS, the quest for a viable alternative energy source today will provide the
fuel for tomorrow's energy independence, natural resources conservation, environmental
protection, and economic engine; and
WHEREAS, one such alternative energy source is the generation of power from the
flow, current, or velocity of water, known as hydrokinetic power, through the installation of
turbines on riverbeds, bridge piers, or beneath barges, as opposed to hydropower that
traditionally refers to power generated using dams or diversionary structures; and
WHEREAS, since hydrokinetic power relies simply on the velocity of water, these
zero-head power systems can be placed into sources of flowing water with minimal
infrastructure or environmental impacts; and
WHEREAS, Louisiana is on the cutting edge of this technology, with the passage of
Act No. 875 and Act No. 930 of the 2010 Regular Session of the Legislature authorizing the
State Mineral and Energy Board to grant leases for the purpose to develop hydrokinetic
power; and
WHEREAS, after three years of research and development, which used a
combination of private funds and a one million four hundred thousand dollar federal
Department of Energy grant, Free Flow Power Corporation is successfully operating its first ENROLLEDHCR NO. 128
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full-scale hydrokinetic turbine generator in the Mississippi River attached to Dow Chemical
Company's dock in Plaquemine; and
WHEREAS, Free Flow Power Corporation and other companies are examining the
installation of such turbines in many other locations on the Mississippi River; and
WHEREAS, Mark Twain once wrote that "The Mississippi River will always have
its own way; no engineering skill can persuade it to do otherwise...;" therefore a study of the
effects of this technology on the hydrodynamics of the Mississippi River, including the
removal of sediment around critical infrastructure such as bridges or scouring, is needed.
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Legislature of Louisiana does hereby
urge and request the Department of Transportation and Development to study the effects of
hydrokinetic turbines on infrastructure and to report the results to the House Committee on
Transportation, Highways and Public Works, the House Committee on Natural Resources
and Environment, the Senate Committee on Transportation, Highways and Public Works,
and the Senate Committee on Natural Resources prior to the convening of the 2013 Regular
Session of the Legislature of Louisiana.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this Resolution be transmitted to the
secretary of the Department of Transportation and Development.
SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATI VES
PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE