[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 119 (Monday, August 1, 2011)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1478-E1479]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




TO AMEND THE INTERNAL REVENUE CODE OF 1986 TO MODIFY THE INVESTMENT TAX 
           CREDIT FOR COMBINED HEAT AND POWER SYSTEM PROPERTY

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                            HON. JAY INSLEE

                             of washington

                    in the house of representatives

                         Monday, August 1, 2011

  Mr. INSLEE. Mr. Speaker, today I reintroduced a bipartisan bill to 
amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to modify the investment tax 
credit for combined heat and power

[[Page E1479]]

system property. There are economic opportunities for American 
industries that adopt combined heat and power (CHP) systems, which have 
the potential to greatly increase energy efficiency and the U.S. 
competitiveness of large industrial plants. The U.S. Combined Heat and 
Power Association has reported that CHP can save building and industry 
owners over $5 billion per year in energy costs. Further, the 
manufacture and installation of CHP projects have the potential to put 
our Nation back to work while producing cleaner energy and reducing 
emissions impacts of electricity generation costs.
  CHP technologies capture some or all of the by-product heat for 
heating or cooling purposes and produce electricity and heat from the 
same fuel source, at or near the site of use. By-product heat at 
moderate temperatures can also be used in absorption chillers for 
cooling. Because they produce multiple forms of energy from the same 
source, CHP systems are two to three times more efficient than systems 
that produce one or the other alone.
  In addition to CHP systems, newer, related technologies are available 
that can use low-grade heat to generate clean electrical power or 
simply make use of the heat as a thermal source. In traditional plants, 
this low-grade heat is wasted by venting it directly to the atmosphere. 
These new technologies, referred to as waste heat to electricity (WHE) 
and waste heat to thermal (WHT), have components that are manufactured 
in the U.S., and have the potential to become important exportable 
technologies. These systems are similar to traditional renewable 
technologies in that they do not require the direct combustion of fuels 
to generate power or heat, thus no emissions are generated.
  If these technologies are widely adopted it would help move our 
country towards energy independence along with creating high quality, 
stable American jobs. According to the Department of Energy, if the 
U.S. was to increase its use of CHP to generate 20 percent of its 
electricity by 2030, it would spur $234 billion in private investment 
and create almost 1 million jobs.
  Although the savings from CHP, WHE, and WHT can be substantial, 
significant up-front capital costs are a barrier to deploying these 
systems. This legislation will help deploy this energy-efficient 
technology by defraying a portion of these costs through an investment 
tax credit. My bipartisan bill raises the size of the system eligible 
for the current investment tax credit, allowing the credit to apply to 
the first 25 megawatts or 34,000 horsepower of an installed system. The 
bill also removes the cap on the eligible system size for the credit 
and also allows VVHE and WHT systems to qualify for this credit.
  With our Nation's economic competitiveness and energy independence in 
mind, I urge my colleagues to support my bill to modify and improve the 
investment tax credit for combined heat and power and waste heat system 
properties.

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