Commercial, Demand Management, Energy Efficiency, Industrial, Regulation  -  February 17, 2017

Sweeping C&I energy efficiency bill reintroduced

A bipartisan group of Senators have reintroduced the Energy Savings and Industrial Competitiveness Act, also known as the Portman-Shaheen bill, which aims to increase energy efficiency in the private sector and the federal government. 

Specifically focused on commercial buildings, manufacturing and the federal government, the bill looks to, among other things, strengthen model building energy codes; establish a U.S. Department of Energy grant program — to be called SupplySTAR — to help make companies' supply chains more efficient; and require the federal government to adopt energy saving techniques.  

Senators Rob Portman, R-Ohio, and Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., reintroduced the bill, which is going through its third consecutive congressional session, each with bipartisan support. The bill is cosponsored by Sens. Michael Bennet, D-Colo., Susan Collins, R-Maine, Chris Coons, D-Del., Al Franken, D-Minn., Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., Mark Warner, D-Va, and Roger Wicker, R-Miss.

Portman-Shaheen was introduced in the previous three congresses with bipartisan support. Legal and consulting firm Mintz Levin issued a full summary of the legislation in a Feb. 15 blog post. 

The senators said a study by the American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy, or ACEEE, estimates that the bill "will create more than 190,000 jobs, save consumers $16.2 billion a year, and cut CO2 emissions and other air pollutants by the equivalent of taking 22 million cars off the road – all by 2030."

The ACEEE senior policy advisor Lowell Ungar issued a statement Feb. 17 in support of the legislation: 

If there is anything on which Congress should be able to agree, it is the Portman-Shaheen bill. Senators Rob Portman and Jeanne Shaheen have led the fight for bipartisan, sensible energy efficiency legislation since 2011. Their bill, the Energy Savings and Industrial Competitiveness Act, would help consumers, workers, businesses, states, the economy, and the environment. It would save energy in homes, commercial and federal buildings, and manufacturing plants.

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