Under the Democratic version of a national energy plan, utilities were required to generate 10 percent of their power from renewable sources by the year 2020. Municipal power companies and rural electric cooperatives were excluded. Though this provision was weaker than many environmentalists and Progressives would have liked, they still supported it as better than nothing at all. Republicans, however, much preferred leaving decisions about renewable energy to individual states. Murkowski (R-AK) proposed an amendment to that effect that exempted states with existing renewable energy standards from complying with the federal standard. This amendment was rejected, 39-57.