Senate Energy Bill: A
Substantial Improvement Relative to the House Bill
June 27, 2005 — By American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy
WASHINGTON, D.C— Last Thursday the Senate completed amendments on
comprehensive energy legislation. A final vote to approve the bill is scheduled
for Tuesday morning. According to the American Council for an Energy-Efficient
Economy (ACEEE), the bill would result in nearly three times as much energy
savings as the bill passed by the U.S. House of Representatives in April. The
Senate bill builds upon the House bill but includes much more extensive tax
incentives for energy-efficient equipment and buildings, a more extensive list
of new equipment efficiency standards, and several other additional
energy-saving provisions. Following final Senate approval, the bill will go to a
House-Senate Conference Committee to work out details between the two bills.
"We commend the Senate for making major improvements relative to the
House-passed bill - the equipment efficiency standards and energy efficiency tax
credit provisions are particularly notable," stated Steven Nadel, Executive
Director of ACEEE. "However, both bills do very little to reduce U.S. oil
use or to promote efficiency programs by electric and gas utilities. We hope
these deficiencies will be addressed in conference; if they are not, it is
likely Congress will need to return to energy legislation in the not very
distant future."
ACEEE estimates that the Senate bill would reduce U.S. energy use by about 3.2%
in 2020 compared to baseline forecasts by the U.S. Energy Information
Administration. The bill would also reduce natural gas use in 2020 by about 1.8
trillion cubic feet, equivalent to the current annual combined consumption of
New York State and New Jersey. Also, the bill would reduce peak electric demand
in 2020 by about 70,000 MW, equivalent to the capacity of 230 power plants of
300 MW each. These savings are 2.9 times greater than the equivalent numbers for
the House bill.
Due to the greater energy savings in the Senate bill, ACEEE recommends that the
conferees accept the Senate efficiency title and the Senate efficiency tax
incentives. However, the House bill does have a useful provision to extend
daylight savings time by two months, which would reduce evening electricity use
in these two months. ACEEE is also interested in exploring ways to increase
support in the House for the Senate-passed Renewable Energy Portfolio Standard (RPS)
by including energy efficiency in an expanded standard to increase flexibility
while also including guarantees that at least a significant percentage of the
energy comes from renewable resources.
"The Senate bill efficiency provisions are a useful 'down-payment' on
addressing our nation's energy problems; much more needs to be done, but these
provisions are a useful start," concluded Nadel.
A summary of the major energy efficiency provisions in both the House and Senate
bills can be found on ACEEE's Web site at http://aceee.org/energy/0505aceanlys.htm.
ACEEE's analysis of the energy efficiency provisions in the Senate Energy Bill,
along with comparisons to the House Energy Bill (HR-6) and last Congress's
Energy Bill, can be found at http://aceee.org/energy/legsttus.htm.
About ACEEE: The American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy is an
independent, nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing energy efficiency as
a means of promoting both economic prosperity and environmental protection. For
information about ACEEE and its programs, publications, and conferences, contact
ACEEE, 1001 Connecticut Avenue, N.W., Suite 801, Washington, D.C. 20036-5525 or
visit http://aceee.org.
For more information, contact:
Steven Nadel, Executive Director
American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy
202-429-8873 x709
snadel@aceee.org
www.aceee.org