Energy Savings and Industrial Competitiveness Act of 2013

Floor Speech

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Mr. SANDERS. It is clear there are differences of opinion in this body and in this country on how we proceed on energy matters. But I think--at least I hope--that there is pretty unanimous agreement that energy efficiency makes a whole lot of sense.

At a time when the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory tells us that over half of the total energy produced in the United States is wasted due to inefficiency, I would hope that regardless of one's political perspective, we could all move forward together to create a more energy-efficient society which will, A, lower the cost of fuel for millions of Americans; B, cut back on greenhouse gas emissions and help us deal with the planetary crisis of global warming; and C, as we make our Nation more energy efficient, we can create tens and tens of thousands of jobs. If there is a win-win-win situation out there, I think this is it, and I would hope we could move forward. This is why, because of the win-win-win aspect of this bill, I think we should be supporting the Shaheen-Portman bill, which has earned support from a wide array of Senators and organizations from across the political spectrum.

I think Senator Shaheen would agree this is a fairly modest bill. It is not transforming the world, but this is a small step forward in doing what certainly needs to be done and that there should be very little disagreement about.

As part of this effort, Chairman Wyden and I are proposing what I think is a significant amendment that complements the overall thrust of the bill. Our amendment is called the Residential Energy Savings Act, which, in fact, is a strong complement to the Shaheen-Portman bill. Our legislation focuses on residential energy efficiency--residential. We do that because we understand that in Vermont, in Louisiana, in Oregon, all over this country, there are tens of millions of people who understand they are wasting energy. When it gets cold, the heat is going through their roofs, through their windows, and through their walls. They are wasting money every single day, but they don't have the modest investment they need to make their homes more energy efficient. This is the problem Senator Wyden and I are trying to address. We are focusing attention on homeowners all over this country.

The Residential Energy Savings Act will save money for homeowners and tenants and cut energy use by lowering the cost of energy efficiency upgrades. It will also create jobs for installers and for the companies that manufacture windows, insulation, and other energy efficiency materials.

How does this amendment work? It is pretty simple. This bill makes loans available to States through the State Energy Program of the U.S. Department of Energy to create or expand existing financing programs. This provides homeowners and tenants with access to low-cost, consumer-friendly capital for energy efficiency projects. Homeowners and tenants use the funding to invest in energy efficiency. Here is the exciting part of this concept: They pay back the loans through their energy savings and the U.S. Treasury gets the money back. In other words, we lend somebody $15,000 to make their home more energy efficient. They save $1,000 a year. They pay back the loan by those savings in their fuel bill. At the end of the day--for 15 years in that example--they are not paying any more for fuel, but in the 16th year they are going to see significant savings in their bill, and throughout the process we see significant reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. In addition, we have created jobs in a number of areas--the installers and those people who manufacture energy-efficient products.

These are the key features of the amendment introduced by Senator Wyden and me:

It is technology neutral. People will make their own choices about how they want to go forward.

This amendment provides States with a high level of flexibility to support existing State and local programs or to design new financing programs that best fit their own circumstances and need.

This amendment supports effective existing State and local programs and supports innovations designed to improve energy efficiency financing. There are no mandates. Participation is entirely voluntary. The Department of Energy must consider regional diversity in issuing loans. This amendment encourages public-private partnerships and other strategies for leveraging public dollars.

The bill incorporates annual reporting requirements to ensure accountability and provides valuable data to consumers, State and local governments, lenders, utilities, and the real estate industry about financing industry upgrades. The residential energy savings amendment is complementary to energy efficiency proposals by other Senators. Supporters of this amendment include the Alliance to Save Energy, the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy, the American Institute of Architects, Efficiency First, and the National Association of State Energy Officials.

Residential energy efficiency--helping homeowners save energy and money while creating jobs at the same time--is an approach that is enjoyed by people all over the country.

Let me reiterate the bottom line. This is a very simple concept. The Federal Government lends money to the States to be repaid back in full. This is not an expense for the Federal Government. There will be an administrative cost.

We think at the end of the day there will be $1 billion of effort in making residential homes more energy efficient. In Vermont, you don't have to be a genius or an economist to know that it is pretty stupid to be heating your home in the wintertime and seeing that heat go out the window or the roof or the walls. In Vermont, and I am sure all over this country, we have a lot of older homes. They are wasting a lot of energy. People are spending much more money than they should.

I will never forget doing an event with two sisters from Barre, VT, who were in their eighties. The State put forth a weatherization program. They reduced the cost of their fuel bill by something like 50 percent. Their home was much more comfortable. This is what we should be doing all over this country, but working families and middle-class families in many ways can't come up with that $10-, $15-, $20,000 they need in order to make this happen. This bill gives money to the States, and they give it to the homeowners. The homeowners repay it based on reductions in fuel bills. The Federal Government gets its money back. We create jobs, we cut greenhouse gas emissions, and we save consumers huge sums of money. If this is not a win-win-win situation, I am not sure what is.

I thank Senator Wyden for his hard work on this amendment. We look forward to working with my colleagues to see that it gets passed.

I thank the Chair.

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