Information on Previous Energy Bills
On April 11, 2003 the House passed the “Energy Policy Act of 2003” (H.R. 6) by a vote of 247 to 175. On May 6th , the Senate began floor debate on its version of the “Energy Policy Act of 2003” (S. 14), which had been reported out of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee on near party lines (13 to 10). However, on July 31st the Senate took the unusual action of passing last year’s Senate energy bill, S.517 of the 107th Congress, by a vote of 84 to 14, in order to move the issue to conference. The intended tax title of S. 14, which was reported by the Senate Finance Committee in April as S.1149 (and filed as S. Amdt. 1424), had yet to be included in the bill that was dropped from the floor. Also, the revised electricity title, S. Amdt. 1412, had not yet come to a vote.
After extended closed negotiations between the House and Senate Republican majorities, the conference committee adopted the report on November 17th. The conference report passed the House by a vote of 246 to 180, but it was filibustered in the Senate; a 57 to 40 vote to end the filibuster in the Senate failed to get the required 60 votes.The conference report, like the Senate and House energy bills, includes important provisions for equipment efficiency standards, federal energy management, tax credits for highly efficient vehicles, appliances, and buildings, and other efficiency measures based on provisions agreed to in 2002 by the House-Senate conference committee. But it does not include vital measures to increase fuel economy or to support electric and natural gas utility efficiency programs.
On February 2, 2004 Sen. Domenici, Chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, introduced a revised version of the energy bill, S. 2095, that he hoped would gain more Senate support. The authorizing provisions of the bill are based on the conference report of H.R. 6, but dropped several provisions to lower the apparent cost—notably including reauthorization of Energy Savings Performance Contracts (ESPCs)—as well as a controversial provision on the gasoline additive MTBE. The tax provisions are based on S. 1149, but moved the effective dates forward to October 2004 in order to reduce the cost.
On May 11, 2004 the Senate adopted the “Jump Start Our Business Strength” or “JOBS” bill, S. 1637, which also has been referred to as the “FSC/ETI” bill by a vote of 92 to 5. Included in the legislation was a suite of energy efficient tax credits including incentives for advanced hybrid and fuel cell vehicles, efficient new homes and home upgrades, efficient commercial buildings, efficient appliances, combined heat and power, efficient residential equipment, advanced meters, and others. These provisions represent the tax portion of Senator Domenici’s “slimmed down” comprehensive energy legislation, S. 2095. However the House version of JOBS bill did not contain the energy tax portion, and the final JOBS Act passed without these provisions.
