HELENA -- Four energy-related bills were considered by the Montana Senate Monday, but one was effectively killed and only one passed with broad support.

SB449

Winning nearly unanimous support was Senate Bill 449 by Sen. Kim Gillan, D-Billings, which would require the state to gradually increase the fuel efficiency of the vehicles in its motor pool. It passed the Senate on a 49-1 vote, with Sen. Dan McGee, R-Laurel, voting no. It needs to pass the Senate on a final vote before being sent to the House.

SB449 would require the Department of Transportation to work with state agencies to make sure each agency's fleet exceeds federal fuel-efficiency standards by 105 percent beginning in 2009, rising to 120 percent of the standard by 2012. That federal standard has been set at 27.5 miles per gallon since 1990.

The stricter standards would not apply to the Montana Highway Patrol or to the governor's office, which often relies on the patrol for transportation, and the transportation director could exempt certain vehicles, including construction vehicles and vehicles designed for off-road use.

A bill that would allow a "green energy" cooperative to go forward with plans to develop two small wind power projects in Eastern Montana narrowly passed the Senate on a 26-24 vote.

SB337

The vote on SB337, introduced by Sen. Dave Wanzenried, D-Missoula, was almost party-line, except that one Democrat, Sen. Vicki Cocchiarella of Missoula, voted against it, and one Republican, Sen. John Cobb of Augusta, voted for it.

The Green Energy Buying Co-op is planning to finance two 10-megawatt wind-power projects, one near Molt, 20 miles northwest of Billings, and another south of Fort Peck.

The bill paves the way for the co-op to own the $31.7 million projects and to sell bonds to finance them.

Under SB337, the co-op can own and operate power-generating equipment as well as the power lines need to transport the electricity to the system that serves utility customers in Montana. Electricity generated by the windmills would be purchased by co-op members and sent to customers through lines owned by regular utilities like NorthWestern Energy.

SB432

Two other bills considered by the Senate Monday dealt with biodiesel, but only one of them passed. SB432, introduced by Sen. John Brueggeman, R-Polson, would mandate the eventual use of biodiesel in all diesel fuel sold in Montana.

The bill, approved by the Senate 35-15, would require the use of an increasing percentage of biodiesel wherever diesel fuel is sold in the state, but only after the state has the capacity to produce that amount of biodiesel.

The requirement would start at 2 percent and rise to 5 percent. For instance, once Montana has the capacity to produce an amount of biodiesel equal to 2 percent by volume of the amount of diesel fuel sold by volume in 2005, all diesel fuel sold after that would have to contain 2 percent biodiesel by volume.

Brueggeman urged his colleagues to pass his Renewable Fuel and Energy Independence Act, which he said would help the United States eventually end its dependence on foreign oil.

"We have got to be a leader in this," he said.

The Department of Transportation director could temporarily suspend the biodiesel content requirements within a certain area or for a particular type of vehicle or engine if the wholesale price of biodiesel exceeded the price of diesel fuel by more than 15 percent, or if engine-performance problems related to biodiesel had been independently verified by the department.

The requirement could also be suspended if adequate supplies of biodiesel were unavailable. The bill would take effect 30 days after the Transportation Department certified that there was enough refining capacity to meet the 2 percent threshold.

SB516

The Senate voted 32-18 to indefinitely postpone action on the other biodiesel legislation, SB516, effectively killing the legislation. The bill, introduced by Jerry Black, R-Shelby, would have required the use of biodiesel in dyed diesel fuel sold in Montana, exempting such fuel sold to a railroad.

It would have required the use of a biodiesel blend containing at least 5 percent biodiesel by volume, after a number of other requirements had been met regarding the availability of biodiesel.