Sens. Shaheen, Portman’s Energy Efficiency Bill: How it Would Affect Industry
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By Rachel Damery
On May 12, 2011, Senators Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) and Rob Portman (R-Ohio) introduced a new energy efficiency bill to Congress. The new bill, called the Energy Savings and Industrial Competitiveness Act of 2011 (ESICA), would increase the use of energy efficiency technologies in the residential, commercial and industrial sectors of our economy, while fostering job creation.
“A national energy efficiency strategy, like the one we are introducing today, can make our economy more competitive, start addressing our nation’s energy challenges and create private sector jobs,” said Shaheen. “It is effective, it is bipartisan and it is affordable.”
The bill contains information and programs encouraging energy efficiency in buildings, the industrial sector and in federal agencies. Specifically, the bill calls for stronger building codes, new standards for appliances, development of new industrial technologies and provisions for funding projects and providing worker training.
Analyzing the Bill in the Industrial Sector
- Building Efficiency Retrofit Loan Credit Support Program:
This part of the bill would create an addition to DOE’s Title XVII loan program that provides credit guarantees to reduce financing risk for energy efficiency projects in industrial, commercial, municipal and other non-residential buildings. DOE would set minimum energy saving requirements to determine project eligibility and up to $400 million could be available. Suggested financing methods under the program include loans, power purchase agreements, energy service agreements and tax assessment-based programs. - State Partnership Industrial Energy Efficiency Revolving Loans Program:
This new program directs DOE to provide grants to eligible lenders to pay a portion of the cost of revolving loan programs for manufacturers to implement commercially available technologies and processes for reducing energy intensity. A total of $700 million would be authorized for this program between 2012 and 2021. - Coordination of Research and Development of Energy Efficient Technologies for Industry:
This part of the bill would coordinate research and development partnerships between the DOE’s Industrial Technologies Program and other DOE departments to investigate innovative processes to improve energy efficiency in manufacturing, to reduce product waste and emissions and to improve cost-competitiveness. - Energy Efficient Technologies Assessment:
This portion of the bill advises DOE to conduct assessments of commercially available, cost-competitive energy efficiency technologies that are not widely adopted in energy-intensive industries in the U.S., including steel, aluminum, forest products, food processing, metal casting, glass, chemical, petroleum refining, cement and information and communication technologies. - Future of Industry Program:
The DOE Industrial Technologies Program, in collaboration with industry, would establish a roadmap for conducting industry-specific studies on the intensity of energy use, greenhouse gas emissions and operating costs. The program would also develop targets for improvements in energy efficiency, sustainability and resilience and creating public-private plans to achieve roadmap goals. The program also establishes “Centers of Excellence” at up to ten of the highest-performing existing industrial research and assessment centers (IACs). Each “Center of Excellence” would coordinate with and advise other IACs within its region to enhance technical assistance to manufacturing companies. - Sustainable Manufacturing Initiative:
The bill would establish an initiative under the DOE Industrial Technologies Program to provide onsite technical assessments to manufacturers. These assessments would identify opportunities to maximize energy efficiency, prevent pollution and minimize waste, and reduce the use of water in manufacturing processes. In addition, this initiative would create a joint industry-government partnership program to research, develop, and demonstrate new sustainable manufacturing and industrial technologies and processes. - Study of Advanced Energy Technology Manufacturing Capabilities in the United States:
The National Academy of Sciences would conduct a study about the development of advanced manufacturing capabilities for various energy technologies. The study would analyze opportunities for improvements in industrial supply chains. It would also assess emerging energy-efficient technologies and provide recommendations on leveraging energy efficiency and renewable energy at end-user facilities. - Industrial Technologies Steering Committee:
An advisory steering committee would be created, which includes national trade associations that represent energy-intensive industries or energy service providers, to provide recommendations on the DOE Industrial Technologies Program. - Supply Star:
The bill would create the Supply Star program, under the direction of DOE, to identify and promote best practices and recognize companies and products that employ highly efficient supply chains conserving energy, water and other resources. The Supply Star program would coordinate its efforts with those of the ENERGY STAR program. - Energy Saving Motor Control Rebate Program:
DOE would create incentives to encourage purchasing new constant speed electric motor controls that reduce a motor’s energy use by at least 5%. The rebate would be worth $25 per horsepower of the motor. There would be $5 million appropriated for this provision each fiscal year from 2012 through 2016.
Learn More about the Proposed Energy Efficiency Strategy
- Full text of the bill
- Section-by-section summary
- Letter from Alliance to Save Energy President Kateri Callahan to Associate members
- Letter of support to Shaheen and Portman from the Energy Efficiency Coalition
- Press release
- Resources from Shaheen & Portman:
- Videos Introducing the Bill:
