During a legislative committee hearing on Monday, Huntsman's energy policy adviser, Dianne Nielson, spoke in favor of SB202, which urges public and regulated utilities to pursue renewable-energy sources to the extent it is cost-effective to do so.

Tuesday, Nielson said she believes the bill, sponsored by Sen. Curt Bramble, R-Provo, is a good way to reach Huntsman's goals for renewable-energy development. But if difficulties arise on the way to that goal, the governor would step in to help meet the target, she said.

The point is to spur economic development and ensure a more secure energy future, with renewable-energy resources a key part, she said.

"The governor wants to find a way to work with all the parties to diversify the energy supply and meet the targets," Nielson said. "That's everybody's goal here."

SB202 offers soft targets for reducing carbon emissions, the main source of greenhouse-gas emissions that are allegedly contributing to global climate disruption. Bramble said he opposes requiring utilities to meet the goals because mandates aren't necessary. Huntsman has no position on mandates, Nielson said.

Twenty-six states have established renewable-energy mandates. Two states, Missouri and Virginia, approved voluntary targets less ambitious than what SB202 proposes, according to the Pew Center on Climate Change.

Because SB202's goal is to reduce carbon emissions, utilities would be allowed to develop nuclear energy and coal plants with the ability to capture and store carbon dioxide to meet the overall target. The bill doesn't include those energy sources in its renewable-energy category.

But Nielson emphasized that renewable-energy development is and should remain the bill's primary goal.

Bramble's bill parallels a Rocky Mountain Power proposal outlined in October in a five-page memo to the Utah Department of Environmental Quality.