[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 40 (Thursday, March 8, 2007)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2918-S2919]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Ms. SNOWE (for herself, Mrs. Feinstein, Mr. Kerry, Mr. 
        Bunning, Mr. Bingaman, Mr. Salazar, Mr. Coleman, Mr.

[[Page S2919]]

        Smith, Mr. Allard, and Mr. Cornyn):
  S. 822. A bill to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to improve 
and extend certain energy-related tax provisions, and for other 
purposes; to the Committee on Finance.
  Ms. SNOWE. Mr. President, today I am introducing legislation with 
Senators Feinstein, Kerry, Bunning, Bingaman, Salazar, Coleman, Smith, 
Allard and Cornyn that addresses the critical issue of the Nation's 
energy policy, the EXTEND the Energy Efficiency Incentives Act of 2007. 
The Senators have come together--given where we are as a Nation in 
terms of reliance on foreign oil . . . the historically high costs of 
energy . . . the state of our environment . . . and the status of our 
technological know-how--to introduce realistic, doable legislation that 
represents one of the best opportunities for developing bipartisan 
consensus on tax policy to further securing our nation and its future.
  The EXTEND Act takes a comprehensive and practical approach to assure 
that the United States targets the maximum possible energy savings on 
the customer side of the meter and relief from high energy prices at 
the lowest cost. It builds on the incentives for efficient buildings 
adopted in Energy Policy Act of 2005, EPAct 2005, and modifies them 
where necessary to achieve these policy goals.
  The bill extends the temporary tax incentives for energy efficiency 
buildings established in EPAct 2005, providing four years of assured 
incentives for most situations, and some additional time for projects 
with particularly long lead times, such as commercial buildings. A 
sufficient length of time is needed by the business community to make 
rational investments as these buildings will be in use for at least 50 
to 100 years. The bill is meant to incentivize not discourage. I want 
to encourage large and small businesses alike to make investments to 
qualify for energy efficiency tax incentives. Commercial buildings and 
large residential subdivisions have lead times for planning and 
construction of 2 to 4 years. This is why the EXTEND Act provides four 
years of assured incentives for most situations, and some additional 
time for projects with longer lead times.
  Also, the EXTEND Act makes modifications to the EPAct 2005 incentives 
so that the incentives are not based on cost but based on actual 
performance. These are measured by on-site ratings for whole buildings 
and factory ratings for products like solar water heaters and 
photovoltaic systems as well as air conditioners, furnaces, and water 
heaters. The EXTEND bill provides a transition from the EPAct 2005 
retrofit incentives, which are based partially on cost and partially on 
performance, to a new system that can provide larger dollar amounts of 
incentives based truly on performance.
  The bipartisan legislation also extends the applicability of the 
EPAct 2005 incentives so that the entire commercial and residential 
building sectors are covered. The current EPAct 2005 incentives for new 
homes are limited to owner-occupied properties or high rise buildings. 
Our bill extends these provisions to rental property and offers 
incentives whether the owner is an individual taxpayer or a 
corporation. This extension does not increase costs significantly, but 
it does provide greater fairness and clearer market signals to builders 
and equipment manufacturers.
  I have worked hard over the past six years for performance-based 
energy tax incentives for commercial buildings--one third of energy 
usage is from the building sector, so there are great energy savings to 
be made with the extension of these incentives. It is reasonable to 
expect many annual benefits after 10 years if we put into place the 
appropriate incentives. For instance, direct savings of natural gas 
would amount to 2 quads per year or 7 percent of total projected 
natural gas use in 2017. And, to this figure must be added the indirect 
gas savings from reduced use of gas as an electricity generation fuel. 
Total natural gas savings would be 35 quads per year, or 12 percent of 
natural gas supply. Total electric peak power savings would be 115,000 
megawatts; almost 12 percent of projected nationwide electric capacity 
for the year 2017.
  In addition, reduction in greenhouse gas emissions would be 330 
million metric tons of carbon dioxide annually, about 16 percent of the 
carbon emissions reductions compared to the base case necessary to 
bring the U.S. into compliance with the Kyoto Protocol; or roughly 5 
percent of projected U.S. emissions in 2017. Also, importantly, the 
bill will result in the creation, on net, of over 800,000 new jobs.
  The value of energy savings should not be overlooked as both business 
and residential consumers will be saving over $50 billion annually in 
utility bills by 2018, as a direct result of the reductions in energy 
consumption induced by the appropriate incentives. Also, the projected 
decrease in natural gas prices will be saving businesses and households 
over an additional $30 billion annually.
  The EXTEND Act is synonymous with the security of America's future. 
The bill is a piece of an overall national energy picture that we need 
to address now. Consumers throughout the United States, from small 
businesses to families, are demanding leadership on energy prices. 
Congress should advance past rhetoric, gimmicks, and photo-ops and move 
to substantive energy policy legislation such as the EXTEND Act. It is 
imperative that Congress begin these policy discussions--we cannot wait 
for yet another crisis.
  I look forward to working with my Senate colleagues and the 
Administration to provide the American people the leadership they 
deserve on these issues. And I would like to add some of the 
organizations and industries that support this legislation as it is a 
formidable list: Alliance to Save Energy; American Public Power 
Association; American Standard Companies; American Chemistry Council; 
American Council for an Energy-Efficient Commission; Anderson Windows, 
Inc.; Building Owners and Managers Association International; 
California Energy Commission; Cardinal Glass Industries; The Dow 
Chemical Company; DuPont; Edison Electric Institute; Environmental and 
Energy Study Institute; Exelon Corporation; 3M Company; Manufactured 
Housing Institute; National Association of State Energy Officials; 
National Electrical Manufacturers Association; Natural Resources 
Defense Council; New York State Energy Research and Development 
Authority; North American Insulation Manufacturers Association; 
Northeast Public Power Association; Owens Corning; Pacific Gas & 
Electric Company; Plug Power, Inc.; Polyisocyanurate Insulation 
Manufacturers Association; Public Service Electric and Gas Company; The 
Real Estate Roundtable; Residential Energy Services Network; Retail 
Industry Leaders Association; Sacramento Municipal Utility District; 
San Diego Gas and Electric Company; Southern California Gas Company; 
Union of Concerned Scientists.
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