AN ACT relating to energy policy and declaring an emergency.

Create a new section of KRS Chapter 164 to make findings and declarations; define terms; establish the Energy Planning and Inventory Commission and administratively attach it to the University of Kentucky Center for Applied Energy Research (UK CAER); provide for membership of the commission board and executive committee; provide for gubernatorial appointments of members of the commission board and executive committee and require Senate confirmation of those appointments; require the election of two of the executive committee members by the commission board from the board membership; provide for commission and executive committee terms; prohibit the compensation of members; make members subject to the requirements of the executive branch code of ethics; provide for the election of the commission chair and vice chair; allow the executive committee to adopt bylaws governing the conduct of the commission's business; prohibit any direct financial relationship between a member of the executive committee and a utility; prohibit a member from serving if it would cause a conflict with or result in the disclosure of confidential information relating to any research projects at the UK CAER; require recusal and replacement of an executive committee member to prevent the disclosure of confidential information; prohibit the Governor from reorganizing the commission or executive committee; allow the commission to employ an executive director, subject to confirmation by the Senate; provide for the duties of the commission, which shall include the examination and study of energy generation related topics and review of the decommissioning notices given by utilities as required by the Act; require the commission to submit annual reports on December 1 to the Legislative Research Commission, the Governor, and the Public Service Commission to make recommendations based on the issues that the commission has examined; require any utility seeking to decommission, demolish, or retire any existing coal, oil, or natural gas-fired electric generating plant to give notice to the executive committee no later than 365 days before submitting a retirement application to the Public Service Commission as required under KRS 278.264; provide for the requirements of the notice; prohibit the disclosure of confidential information as part of the notice; require that within 180 days of receiving a notice, the commission shall hold a public hearing in the county where the retirement is proposed to occur; require that within 270 days of receiving notice and after the public hearing has occurred, the executive committee submit a final report with written findings and recommendations regarding the retirement to the Public Service Commission; provide for the contents of the written findings and for the accommodation of dissenting findings with the executive committee members; require the Public Service Commission to consider the findings of the report before approving a retirement under KRS 278.264; require that the executive committee or executive director, if authorized by the executive committee, to have standing to intervene in any case or proceeding before the Public Service Commission; allow the executive committee to employ administrative staff or third-party consultants if funding is available; require that the commission cease to exist on December 31, 2035; create a new section of KRS 278.010 to 278.450 to require the Public Service Commission to issue final orders within six months of the filing of an application by a utility; amend KRS 278.110 to require final reports of investigations or special inquiries to be filed within the public record for the case for which it was prepared; require the contracted person to be subject to written information requests and cross-examination in any public hearing for the case in which the report was prepared; amend KRS 278.264 to require that an application for the retirement of an electric generating unit include a statement certifying compliance with the requirements of Section 1 of this Act; require the Public Service Commission to find that a utility seeking to retire an electric generating unit will replace it with new electric generating capacity that has the same or higher capacity value and net capability, unless the utility can demonstrate that it is not necessary and to find that utility shall not commence the retirement until the replacement generating capacity is fully constructed, permitted, and in operation; define "dispatchable" and "intermittent"; provide for the staggering of initial appointments to the Energy Planning and Inventory Commission; EMERGENCY.