Tennessee 2025-2026 Regular Session

Tennessee House Bill HB0747 Compare Versions

Version 1 (Old)

Version 2 (New)

Old	New		Differences
1	1
2		-	SENATE BILL 968
3		-	By Southerland
	2	+	<BillNo> <Sponsor>
4	3
5	4		HOUSE BILL 747
6	5		By Fritts
7	6
8	7
9	8		HB0747
10	9		002702
11	10		- 1 -
12	11
13	12		AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 68,
14	13		Chapter 204, relative to the state energy policy
15	14		council.
16	15
17	16		WHEREAS, this General Assembly resolved in 2023 for this State to develop an energy
18	17		production plan in order to become an energy exporter; and
19	18		WHEREAS, President Trump has declared a national energy emergency; and
20	19		WHEREAS, this State must continue to build upon its long-standing partnership with the
21	20		Tennessee Valley Authority, which has led the nation in effective and efficient generation of
22	21		electricity using nuclear, gas, coal, and hydro-electric energy sources; and
23	22		WHEREAS, this State must implement a strategic plan for building and maintaining
24	23		energy infrastructure that is scalable and robust enough to not only meet our current energy
25	24		availability and production but to accommodate our ever-increasing future energy demands; and
26	25		WHEREAS, preparing for a nuclear power renaissance and maintaining a competitive
27	26		advantage in all things nuclear, including nuclear manufacturing and nuclear energy, will require
28	27		this State to maintain and build upon the nuclear energy resources in Oak Ridge and other parts
29	28		of East Tennessee while developing traditional and emerging energy technologies; and
30	29		WHEREAS, it is vital that policymakers in this State understand the strengths,
31	30		weaknesses, opportunities, and threats associated with our current energy sources and
32	31		capabilities, as well as any future energy development and production; and
33	32		WHEREAS, the Tennessee energy policy council was reconstituted in 2024 to include
34	33		subject matter experts from all segments of the energy production and delivery markets in order
35	34		to ensure policymakers receive the best possible recommendations on all aspects of current
36	35		and future energy production capabilities; and
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41	40		WHEREAS, establishing a set of objectives for which the Tennessee energy policy
42	41		council is annually responsible will help in the establishment and maintenance of an effective
43	42		energy policy; and
44	43		WHEREAS, assigning the administrative, reporting, oversight, and accountability
45	44		responsibilities jointly to the Tennessee department of economic and community development
46	45		and the Tennessee department of environment and conservation will help ensure that policy
47	46		suggestions safely, reliably, and effectively leverage current and emerging energy capabilities in
48	47		this State; now, therefore,
49	48		BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF TENNESSEE:
50	49		SECTION 1. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 68-204-106, is amended by deleting
51	50		the section and substituting:
52	51		(a) To facilitate the work of the council and for administrative purposes, the chair
53	52		of the council shall assign the administrative oversight responsibilities jointly to the
54	53		department of economic and community development and the department of
55	54		environment and conservation.
56	55		(b) The council shall meet quarterly, with members to be physically present at a
57	56		minimum of two (2) quarterly meetings each calendar year. Members may also
58	57		participate by teleconference call. Emergency meetings may be called by the chair or
59	58		upon petition by a majority of the council, with written notice being given to all members.
60	59		SECTION 2. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 68-204-103, is amended by deleting
61	60		subdivision (b)(1).
62	61		SECTION 3. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 68-204-108, is amended by deleting
63	62		the section and substituting the following:
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68	67		(a) The council shall compile, compose, and publish an initial report by July 1,
69	68		2026, on recommendations of policy and actions needed in order to address this state's
70	69		energy needs, including, but not limited to:
71	70		(1) Energy source and production goals by capacity;
72	71		(2) An analysis of each energy source's strengths, weaknesses,
73	72		opportunities, and threats;
74	73		(3) An assessment of the current capacity of each energy source against
75	74		projected demand; and
76	75		(4) An assessment of potential energy source extraction and delivery
77	76		systems, emerging innovative energy sources, and energy storage.
78	77		(b) The reports must be:
79	78		(1) Distributed electronically to all members of the energy, agriculture
80	79		and natural resources committee of the senate and the committee of the house
81	80		of representatives with subject jurisdiction over energy; and
82	81		(2) Available on the department of economic and community
83	82		development's and the department of environment and conservation's websites.
84	83		The departments must jointly notify any person who has registered through the
85	84		department's website by email of the report's availability.
86	85		(c) The departments must establish the frequency future reports will be
87	86		distributed, with the longest interval between distributions being two (2) years.
88	87		SECTION 4. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 68-204-104, is amended by deleting
89	88		subdivision (d)(3) and substituting:
90	89		(3) In case of a vacancy in the membership on the council prior to the expiration
91	90		of a member's term, a successor must be appointed within thirty (30) days of the
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96	95		vacancy for the remainder of the unexpired term by the appointing authority who made
97	96		the original appointment and in the same manner as the original appointment.
98	97		SECTION 5. This act takes effect upon becoming a law, the public welfare requiring it.