[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 71 (Monday, May 12, 2014)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2891-S2892]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
ENERGY EFFICIENCY
Ms. KLOBUCHAR. Mr. President, I rise today in support of the Energy
Savings and Industrial Competitiveness Act of 2014. I commend Senator
Shaheen and Senator Portman on their leadership and tireless efforts to
craft an energy efficiency bill that is good for consumers, good for
our economy, and good for our environment.
The Shaheen-Portman energy efficiency bill is supported by a
coalition of environmental organizations, including the Natural
Resources Defense Council, the Sierra Club, and the BlueGreen Alliance.
It is also supported by business trade associations such as the chamber
of commerce and the National Association of Manufacturers. By working
together on a bipartisan basis, the two Senators have put together a
bill that is officially sponsored by seven Democrats and seven
Republicans and I believe the vast majority of the people in this
Chamber.
Although this bill is not a substitute for comprehensive energy or
climate legislation, it is the right effort to put us on more secure
energy footing and strengthen our economy. I have always argued that at
a time when we have been having a hard time working on comprehensive
energy legislation--something which I believe we should do and which
would be very good for our economy--we need to get behind efforts such
as this one. I am so pleased this has finally happened; however, I am
not certain we will be able to get it done this week.
I believe the beneficial role energy efficiency improvements can have
for consumers and also our economic competitiveness often gets
overlooked in today's debate. The Shaheen-Portman bill creates new
incentives to install energy-efficient technologies in homes,
businesses, and manufacturing facilities that can quickly pay for
themselves. The savings for consumers alone are astounding. According
to a new study, Shaheen-Portman is estimated to save consumers $16
billion a year by 2030. Making these improvements will not only save
consumers and businesses money, it will also create more than 190,000
jobs.
America has always been a country that benefits from the development
of innovative technologies, but this bill recognizes that we don't need
to reinvent the wheel or rely on a new space race to move our economy
forward. This bill will lead to the installation of energy-efficient
technologies that are commercially available today and can quickly pay
for themselves through energy savings.
The bill doesn't just work with individuals in the private sector on
a voluntary basis to encourage energy efficiency, the bill also helps
the government become more efficient. Some people might question why
the government should try to make energy efficiency improvements when
there are so many demands for Federal resources. I believe we can't
afford to needlessly waste energy and taxpayer resources on older
heaters, inefficient lighting, and drafty buildings. Making commonsense
improvements to our Federal buildings will pay dividends for years to
come.
The Shaheen-Portman bill includes a number of commonsense provisions
that will help keep energy affordable. I wish to briefly focus on one
example which may not sound important at first blush but which has a
big impact on the Minnesota Rural Electric Association and the
consumers it serves in my State.
The rural electric co-ops strongly support a provision in the
Shaheen-Portman bill that my friend and colleague from North Dakota,
Senator Hoeven, introduced and that I am helping to lead, and that is
to change the Department of Energy rule to ensure that large-capacity
hot water heaters that are part of a demand response program can
continue to be manufactured.
The rural electric co-ops in my State have installed thousands of
large-capacity hot water heaters in people's basements. Heating water
is a major source of energy consumption, and our co-ops have found a
way to provide an important service in a way that incentivizes wind
energy development and saves consumers money. These hot water heaters
are only turned on at night, when the wind blows the strongest and the
demand for energy is the lowest. Then in the morning, when people wake
up and turn on their lights, the heaters are already off. The wind
energy is stored in the form of hot water that can be used throughout
the day.
This provision in the Shaheen-Portman bill will provide regulatory
certainty that these heaters will continue to be available.
Another provision I worked on with Senator Hoeven was to find new
opportunities to engage the nonprofit community in making energy
efficiency improvements. We have an amendment that would help
nonprofits--including hospitals, schools, faith-based organizations,
and youth centers--make energy efficiency improvements that will help
them save money and ultimately serve our people.
Our amendment, which is fully offset, has the support of Senators
Blunt, Pryor, Stabenow, and Mikulski.
The amendment would provide $10 million each year for the next 5
years to create a pilot grant program so that nonprofits can save
through energy efficiency. We work with stakeholders to ensure that
grants will achieve significant amounts of energy savings and are done
in a cost-effective manner. The grants would require a 50-percent match
so that there is complete buy-in from the nonprofits, and grants would
be capped at $200,000.
Our amendment has the support of the National Council of Churches,
the YMCA of the USA, and the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations, to
name a few.
This provision was one of the many good ideas--many of them
bipartisan--that promote energy efficiency and that we believe will be
included in the bill once it is finally voted on.
I urge my colleagues to support this amendment, the Nonprofit Energy
Efficiency Act, and also support the underlying bill. The bill, as we
have discussed, would save consumers and taxpayers money, reduce energy
consumption, help create jobs, and make our country more energy
independent.
Another issue that can drive up the price of energy for consumers is
metal, and this is the final issue I wish to talk about because I have
attempted to get this bill on several other bills. I was able to pass
it through the Judiciary Committee. It is a bill that is cosponsored by
Senator Graham, and Senator Graham and I are leading the bill. Senator
Hoeven and Senator Schumer are also cosponsors of this bill, as well as
Senator Coons.
We have been working very hard on the issue of metal theft for years.
It has broad support because it has struck so many electric companies
and so many consumers. Houses have blown up when people take simple
copper piping out of the basement and then someone turns on the gas.
Literally, people have lost their lives. We had one incident in
Minnesota, and we have seen others across the country. This is
unbelievable, but the stars that were placed on the graves of veterans
during veterans holidays have been stolen. The beer industry is
strongly behind this bill. Why? Because kegs are being stolen all over
the country.
Those are just things I am recalling by memory. But this is a major
problem. Ask any power company or construction crew across the country
or even operators of ice skating rinks in Minnesota, where one theft of
a couple thousand dollars' worth literally costs the city of St. Paul
millions of dollars because once they take a pipe out, they have to
rebuild the entire system. Talk to any of these people and quickly
learn about the growing problem of metal theft.
My bipartisan bill--the Metal Theft Prevention Act--has been filed as
an amendment to the energy efficiency bill to bring attention to this
important issue. The amendment is the much needed Federal response to
the increasingly pervasive and damaging problem of metal theft.
Metal theft has jumped more than 80 percent in recent years, hurting
businesses and threatening public safety. It
[[Page S2892]]
is a major threat, especially to power companies.
In a recent study, the Department of Energy found that the total
value of damages to industries affected by theft of copper wire alone
is approximately $1 billion every single year. I have visited small
electric companies in the rural areas that have been stolen from--not
once, not twice, but three times. I have visited companies that have
had their trucks stolen and then the thieves go out in the trucks and
steal wire because people let them in because they have the electric
company's truck. They have targeted construction sites, power and phone
lines, retail stores, and vacant houses. They have caused explosions in
vacant buildings by stealing metal from gas lines, and they have caused
blackouts by stealing copper wiring from street lights and electrical
substations. Last October four people were injured in an explosion at a
University of California Berkeley electrical station. Officials blamed
it on copper theft that occurred 2 hours before the explosion. As the
electrical workers tried to fix it, the explosion occurred. As I
mentioned, they are taking brass stars from our veterans' graves. This
happened on Memorial Day of 2012. In another case that shows just how
dangerous metal theft can be, Georgia Power was having a huge problem
with thieves targeting a substation that feeds the entire Atlanta
Hartsfield International Airport, one of the busiest airports in the
world. The airport was getting hit two to three times a week and
surveillance didn't lead to any arrests.
This rise in incidents of metal theft across the country, the growing
cost to businesses, and the danger it poses underscores the critical
need for Federal action. What does our bill do? It helps combat this by
requiring modest recordkeeping by recyclers of scrap metal, just
keeping track of who is selling the metal. It requires limiting the
value of cash transactions. This simply means they can take it in for
$100 bucks, but after that they have to require a check. We have many
States that are doing this but not enough. So what we are finding is
people are stealing metals in Minnesota where we have a $100 cash
requirement and then they are selling it in another State so they
cannot be tracked.
The amendment also makes it a Federal crime to steal metal from
critical infrastructure and directs the U.S. Sentencing Commission to
review relevant penalties. The Metal Theft Prevention Act has been
endorsed by the National Rural Electric Cooperate, the American Public
Power Association, American Supply, Edison Electric Institute, National
Electrical Contractors Association, National Association of Home
Builders, National Retail Federation, U.S. Telecom Association, and
about a dozen other businesses and organizations. It has the support of
the Major Cities Chiefs of Police Association, the Major County
Sheriffs' Association, the National Sheriffs' Association, the
Fraternal Order of Police, and the National Association of Police
Organizations.
I ask my friends who represent the scrap metal dealers to look at
this coalition and to ask yourself: Is this worth it, over a $100
requirement for writing a check? Is it worth it to oppose this when
buildings are blowing up and critical infrastructure is being broken
into and one of the busiest airports in the country is having problems?
Is it worth it to oppose a bill that has strong bipartisan support? I
don't think it is. I think the interests of the consumers of this
country, the interests of businesses in this country, and the interests
of law enforcement should trump, and that is what should matter in this
Chamber. So I hope my colleagues will look at this again and look at
the bare minimum this legislation sets. It does not create that much of
a burden, when all these companies that buy this scrap metal, much of
which is stolen--a number of these things are stolen. A lot of these
people are good. They know it doesn't matter. They are doing it in some
of the States. All they are doing is keeping records and requiring a
check when it is over $100. That is all we are talking about.
If we balance $1 billion in theft a year against a simple requirement
of recordkeeping, I think it is pretty clear. I hope my colleagues will
look at it this way, and I know their chiefs and sheriffs will tell
them this must be a priority. We need to do everything we can to
protect our critical industry infrastructure from unscrupulous metal
thieves. I hope my colleagues support this bill when it comes up for a
vote.
I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Connecticut.
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