Senate kills energy compromise

In a surprise move, the Senate has just voted 17-18 on HB 347, the renewable energy rebate - killing the bill. It was the first piece of a two-bill compromise on energy policy. Immediately after the vote, the Senate went at ease. Then, Sen. Curt McKenzie, R-Nampa, asked to return HB 348, the second piece of the compromise, to committee. “The bill that we just had and this bill were two parts of a compromise, hard fought,” McKenzie told the Senate. “Without one it’s very unfair to those who were involved to pass the other.”