Topeka ? Attorney General Stephen Six’s office has ruled it was legal for lawmakers to meet privately – with input from an electric company – to write legislation allowing that company to build two coal-burning plants.

The Lawrence Journal-World filed a complaint under the Kansas Open Meetings Act after key lawmakers last month released House Bill 2711 and Senate Bill 515. Those bills would have essentially required construction of the two 700-megawatt plants.

In briefings with other legislators, state Sen. Jay Emler, R-Lindsborg, and state Rep. Carl Holmes, R-Liberal, said they worked on the bills in private meetings with state Sen. Janis Lee, D-Kensington, and state Rep. Annie Kuether, D-Topeka.

Emler also said they received input from Sunflower Electric Power Corp., which wants to build the coal-burning plants. Opponents of the plants were not invited to the discussions.

These legislators serve as the chairs and ranking minority members on the House and Senate committees that deal with utilities and energy issues.

In addition, the four elected officials are members of the Kansas Electric Transmission Authority, a public board that was established by state law to try to improve the state’s electrical transmission infrastructure.

Under the Kansas Open Meetings Act, meetings with a majority of a quorum of a public board must be held in public. KETA has seven members and a majority of a quorum would be three. The Journal-World asked whether a meeting with those four KETA members should have been open to the public.

But Assistant Attorney General Michael Smith said no violation occurred.

“You have suggested that KETA business may have been discussed when these legislators met to develop and refine HB 2711 and SB 515. If so, there is nothing we can identify. Moreover, the fact that these individual legislators met to discuss energy bills does not implicate KOMA (the Kansas Open Meetings Act) unless convened as the KETA governing body,” Smith said.

Smith said the proposed legislation doesn’t refer to KETA, although the bill does deal with transmission issues. He noted a part of the bill “considers transmission” in providing carbon dioxide offsets.

“This reference is not the primary subject of the bill, and its inclusion appears to be for the purpose of providing a comprehensive approach to energy planning. KETA’s role is more associated with capital improvements and construction,” he said.

Transmission issues, however, have been an important part of both the proposed legislation and the debate about the coal-burning plants. One argument plant supporters use is that the project will include enhanced transmission capabilities, which would spur development of wind-generated energy.

Last year, Gov. Kathleen Sebelius’ administration rejected the plants, citing concerns about the plants’ annual emission of 11 million tons of carbon dioxide and the effect on climate change. Since then, legislative supporters of the project have vowed to reverse that decision.