Georgia Strategy Released to Spark Public Debate on Energy

The Georgia Environment Facilities Authority (GEFA) has released the second draft of its State Energy Strategy for Georgia to encourage public discussion about the state's plan to develop an affordable and diverse energy supply. The plan calls for a thorough analysis of the states energy efficiency and renewable energy potential, as well as a statewide technology transfer program to support the commercialization of clean energy research at Oak Ridge National Laboratory and Georgia's research universities.

 

Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue launched the development of the state plan in March, citing the destruction resulting from Hurricane Katrina as evidence that the state needs to limit its dependence on fossil fuels. The original draft, published in June, attracted 358 comments from the 222 participants who registered to be a part of the process. The second draft has attracted twice as many participants, many of whom also attended one of the town hall meetings held throughout the state earlier this month. The governor's Energy Policy Council will incorporate public comments collected at these meetings into the current draft and release a final document in December.

 

The strategy calls for targeted recruitment of clean energy businesses while improving the states energy workforce through the K-12, vocational and university curriculum. The GEFA plans to coordinate an industrial recruitment strategy in conjunction with other statewide organizations such as the Georgia Allies and the Georgia Industrial Technology Partnership, which will involve periodic workshops with economic development leaders. The draft plan recommends that state programs to support and attract high-tech businesses should give preference to businesses that adopt energy efficient technologies, or use renewable resources. This preference would not only reduce Georgia energy consumption, but also increase the demand for emerging clean energy technologies.

 

In order to support the research being done on clean energy within state universities, the plan recommends grants for energy-related research, the creation of a university-affiliated research park focusing on energy projects, a new advanced energy commercialization center, and expanded services for energy companies at Georgia's business development centers. It also suggests a program to encourage public-private clean energy partnerships based on the Georgia Research Alliance's use of cost-share pools.

 

Last month, Gov. Perdue proposed a sales tax exemption for materials and equipment used in the construction of biofuel facilities to encourage biodiesel, ethanol and butanol production in the state. Facilities producing and processing these fuels will be eligible for a 4 percent tax incentive, leading to an average annual savings of $2 million to $4 million.

 

Read the second draft of the State Energy Strategy for Georgia at: http://www.georgiaenergyplan.org/suppmat/SES_SECOND_DRAFT_FINAL_AUG31.pdf