Energy Policy Act of 2005--Conference Report

ENERGY POLICY ACT OF 2005--CONFERENCE REPORT

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. AKAKA. Mr. President, I would like to engage my friend from Iowa, the chairman of the Finance Committee, as well as my friend, Senator BAUCUS, the ranking member of the committee in a brief colloquy.

There is an important project under consideration in Hawaii that would use deep seawater to cool buildings in downtown Honolulu. This project may be funded, in part, by private activity bonds. I would like to ask whether piping used to bring cold water from the ocean to the distributional facility would be considered part of the local system consisting of a pipeline or network, which may be connected to a cooling source, providing chilled water to two or more users for residential, commercial or industrial cooling as provided in section 142(g) of the Internal Revenue Code.

Mr. GRASSLEY. It is my understanding that if a traditional plant were constructed several miles from its customers, the network to deliver cooling would qualify. It seems to me that piping used to draw cold water from the ocean is analogous to piping used with respect to a traditional cooling system and also should qualify.

Mr. BAUCUS. I concur with the chairman. The piping in this case is integral to the delivery of cold water from the ocean to be used in the chilling of residential, commercial and other buildings and therefore should qualify for tax-exempt financing.

ENERGY EFFICIENT APPLIANCES

Mr. SMITH. Mr. President, with respect to the credit for energy efficient appliances, section 1334 of the Energy Policy Act, I understand that the dishwasher credit amount is based on a comparison of changes to the Department of Energy's Energy Star specification for its 2007 qualifying level as compared to the existing Energy Star qualifying level for this product. In particular, the amount of the credit for these products to be provided is determined, in that section, by calculating the percentage increase in efficiency--measured as an ``Energy Factor'' or ``EF''--from the 2005 Energy Star level to the 2007 Energy Star level. The current Energy Star specification for dishwashers is measured by EF. There is the possibility that the Energy Star Program might change the metric for measuring efficiencies of these products from EF to another measurement and this might create confusion in the calculation and implementation of the credit. I would like to ask the bill's manager if it is his understanding that the IRS has the authority, in consultation with DOE, to establish an equivalent level of efficiency for dishwashers in case the Energy Star Program establishes an efficiency metric for these products that is different than the current EF metric.

Mr. GRASSLEY. I agree with the Senator's understanding of the IRS's authority to consult with DOE in this regard, and to establish an equivalent level of efficiency for dishwashers for determining the amount of the credit.

http://thomas.loc.gov/