Statements on Introduced Bills and Joint Resolutions

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Ms. COLLINS. Mr. President, I am pleased to be joined by my colleague, the distinguished Senator from Pennsylvania, Mr. CASEY, in introducing the Power Efficiency and Resilience, POWER, Act.

The POWER Act would expand tax incentives for industrial energy efficiency systems, including combined heat and power, CHP, and waste heat to power, WHP, technologies, making the incentives more accessible an providing parity with other forms of renewable energy. The upfront costs of CHP and WHP can be expensive, and facilities seeking to lower their energy bills often lack access to the capital needed for purchasing the equipment. The POWER Act aims to spur investment in these efficient technologies that capture wasted heat from electricity generation and industrial processes and use it to heat or cool buildings or to generate additional electricity. Capturing this otherwise wasted resource has the potential to increase electrical generation efficiency by nearly 80 percent and reduce electricity costs for industrial users.
While technologies such as solar energy and fuel cells currently benefit from a 30 percent investment tax credit, ITC, the incentives for CHP are more limited. CHP systems are only eligible for a 10 percent ITC for the first 15 megawatts, MW, of projects that are smaller than 50 MW in capacity. Moreover, while WHP has the potential to produce 15 gigawatts of emissions-free electricity nationwide, it currently does not qualify for the ITC. The limits on the size and scope of the ITC have hampered companies from making important investments to increase their efficiency. The POWER Act would increase the ITC for CHP to 30 percent, allow WHP to qualify for the credit, remove the limit on project size to ensure large industrial systems are eligible, and extend the credit through December 2018 to allow time for equipment purchase, installation, and permitting.

By making our industrial sector more efficient, we would be reducing costs for manufacturers and helping them to better compete in the global marketplace. CHP can also help us be a more resilient nation. Critical institutions that have combined heat and power can keep the power on even when the lights go out. That is why some hospitals, wastewater treatment plants, and military bases are installing CHP--they have to keep operating even in extreme weather or during blackouts. The POWER Act can save energy, reduce costs, build resilience, and reduce emissions.

Woodard & Curran, headquartered in Portland, Maine, noted in its support for the bill that the POWER Act: ``..... will allow more companies to reduce energy use and costs by installing combined heat and power, CHP, systems. As a developer of such projects, we know that this technology poses a significant opportunity to generate new businesses, create jobs, and reduce our Nation's energy consumption. CHP is still largely an untapped resource, and we could double its installed capacity over the next decade with the right policies in place.'' Another company in Scarborough, ME, Self-Gen, Inc., stated: ``Every year, the United States sends enough wasted heat from electricity generation up our chimneys to power Japan. Combined heat and power can harness this heat as a resource to create more electricity, nearly doubling efficiency. Senator Collins' POWER Act will help us use this technology throughout Maine and across the nation, moving the United States towards increased energy independence.''

The POWER Act would allow more U.S. companies to install CHP and WHP systems, which would help improve the energy efficiency and lower costs for some of the largest energy users. The legislation has the support of a broad coalition of businesses from across the country, several environmental organizations, and a number of trade associations. I urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to support this legislation.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source