September Policy Updates
Congress returned from recess this month and it has been an exceptionally busy few weeks. Below is an update on everything happening with appropriations, Congressional hearings, requests for comment, and authorizing legislation. 
Appropriations
On Thursday, September 12, the full Senate Appropriations Committee approved their FY20 Energy and Water appropriations bill. The funding levels for the Department of Energy and the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy in the Senate bill are actually higher than those in the House bill, which was approved prior to the budget agreement. The Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy receives $2.8 billion in the Senate bill, $150 million over the House bill, an increase of $343 million over 2019, and $2.46 billion over the Trump budget request.
We saw significant increases for our key programs (with the exception of level funding for SEP). These numbers are VERY good and even higher than our requests. Here is a comparison chart of previous funding and current House and Senate proposals for our key programs.
|
Program |
FY18 Enacted |
FY19 Enacted |
BPA Request |
President’s Budget Request |
House FY20 E&W (pre-budget deal) |
Senate FY20 E&W |
|
Building Technologies Office |
$220.7M |
$226M |
$268M |
$57M |
$248M |
$300M |
|
Residential Building Integration |
$23M |
$28M |
$36M |
NA |
$30M |
$40M |
|
WAP |
$248M + $3M |
$254M + $3M |
$270M |
$0 |
$290M |
$303.5M |
|
SEP |
$55M |
$55M |
$70M |
$0 |
$70M |
$55M] |
In addition to great programmatic funding, the Senate committee included VERY strong language about the reprogramming of funds (essentially letting DOE know they are watching very closely and expect formal requests for approval if DOE wants to try to shift any funds or make any changes in program execution that is not aligned with congressional direction).
We will continue to work with committee staff in both chambers in support of our programmatic and report language requests. Given the very strong numbers and report language in both bills and reports, we are in very good standing. We do expect our final numbers to be in between the Senate and the House numbers, with increases to our key programs.
Congressional Hearings
- September 11 Senate Energy Subcommittee Hearing
- The subcommittee discussed and solicited DOE and FERC witness feedback on a number of energy efficiency and other energy-related bills, including three of interest:
- Energy Savings and Industrial Competitiveness Act
- Clean Energy Jobs Act
- Energy Savings and Industrial Competitiveness Act
- Includes the SAVE Act.
- We signed onto an industry support letter in advance of the hearing.
- Both the Senate and House versions of the bill are bipartisan.
- The subcommittee discussed and solicited DOE and FERC witness feedback on a number of energy efficiency and other energy-related bills, including three of interest:
- The Clean Energy Jobs Act (workforce)
- Very similar to the Blue Collar to Green Collar Jobs Act (HR 1315) which we drafted in coordination with Chairman Rush’s office in the House. The energy workforce grant program language is identical.
- Unlike HR 1315, the Senate version is not currently bipartisan. We are working to secure a Republican co-sponsor.
- DOE Under Secretary Menezes said there is a need for a skilled technical workforce. There was no other discussion of the bill at the hearing.
- Enhancing State Energy Security Planning and Emergency Preparedness Act
- The SEP reauthorization bill
- Passed the House on Monday 9/9 and looks like it will move quickly through the Senate
- DOE Under Secretary Menezes testified in support of the bill, saying that it would continue a long history of the Department’s support for state and local governments energy resilience and emergency planning efforts.
- Upcoming House Hearing on Building Efficiency
- The House Energy & Commerce Committee expects to hold a buildings-related hearing next Friday, 9/20 We have been in discussions with committee staff and have requested to bring a witness, although as of 9/13 the witness spots are full.
Congressional Requests for Comment
Over the past two weeks, both the House Energy and Commerce Committee and the House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis have both requested information from the public on what types of policies and other considerations they should take into account as they develop legislation and recommendations for policy action to decrease carbon and other greenhouse gas emissions.
House Energy and Commerce Committee comments were submitted by BPA on September 13 and can be found here. Comments to the House Select Committee are due on November 22. Our team will be drafting those comments over the next month and provide for review/feedback.
Additional Authorizing Legislation Updates
- SEP Reauthorization - on Monday, September 9th, the House passed the SEP reauthorization bill. The Senate companion bill was subject to the subcommittee hearing on September 11th.
- WAP Reauthorization – House and Senate bills have been approved by the full committee and await a floor vote in both chambers.
- Workforce – HR1315 has been approved by full Energy and Commerce committee, is bipartisan, and awaits a floor vote. As noted above, its Senate companion - the Clean Energy Jobs Act – has been introduced and was subject to the subcommittee hearing on September 11.
- HOMES Act - We continue to be the primary stakeholders on the HOMES Act. The HOMES Act, HR 2043, was introduced and was included in hearings in the Spring. This important bill provides rebates to homeowners (or contractors/aggregators) for deep home retrofits (20-35% energy savings) using predicted performance models. While we designed and have long-supported the HOMES Act, many elements are outdated. Since introduction we have been engaged in revamping the legislation to allow for more flexible options to the rebates, encourage more states to be able to participate, and strengthen the engagement of the states in the process and DOE in the rules of the program. As a result, we are awaiting a new version of the bill and will share as soon as we have the review draft.
- E-Access - We continue to be the primary stakeholders on E-Access. E-Access has been revised since the last Congress and will ensure that DOE sets out a series of best-practices for state regulators to lean-on for data access implementation and rulemaking. While it is ready for introduction, we have been awaiting a Republican co-sponsor (and we are working to gain utility support to move forward).