A bill that would create a legal framework for Utah's energy future will have its first legislative committee hearing today, but it already has met resistance from lawmakers and the governor.

House Bill 46, the Utah Energy Act, proposes to designate a state energy officer to encourage development and promotion of Utah's energy resources. The energy officer would report to the governor and earn up to $115,700 per year.

HB46 will be before the House Natural Resources, Agriculture and Environment Committee at 8 a.m. at the Capitol in Room W125. Interested volunteers and two interim committees crafted the bill after hundreds of hours of meetings last summer organized by Reps. Roger Barrus, R-Centerville, and Ralph Becker, D-Salt Lake City.

Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. already has appointed an energy policy adviser, Laura Nelson. But Huntsman doesn't want a Cabinet-level officer mandated by law, aides have said.

During a Capitol news conference Thursday, Becker said the task forces had purposely not ranked energy-development priorities, but that such an effort could piggy-back on the bill.

- Patty Henetz