[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 154 (Monday, December 15, 2014)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6854-S6857]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  UNANIMOUS CONSENT REQUEST--H.R. 2126

  Mr. PORTMAN. I ask unanimous consent that the energy committee be 
discharged from further consideration of H.R. 2126 and the Senate 
proceed to its immediate consideration; that the bill be read a third 
time and passed and the motion to reconsider be considered made and 
laid upon the table.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Is there objection?
  Mr. COBURN. I object.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Objection is heard.
  Mr. PORTMAN. Mr. President, this is with regard to the energy 
legislation that passed the House and has four commonsense, simple 
provisions we hoped to be able to pass by unanimous consent tonight, 
and hopefully I will be able to convince my colleagues it is something 
that is good for American jobs, American business, and for energy 
efficiency. There are four or five speakers who would like to talk on 
this. What I would like to do, if I could, is ask them to begin the 
debate here and then I will wrap it up at the end.
  I yield the floor.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from New Hampshire.
  Mrs. SHAHEEN. Mr. President, I rise in support of my colleague and my 
partner in this energy efficiency effort, Senator Portman, to support 
his unanimous consent request that the Senate pass H.R. 2126, the 
Energy Efficiency Improvement Act.
  I am disappointed to hear Senator Coburn's continued objection to 
this legislation and to energy efficiency measures. This bill is 
identical to a more narrowly focused energy efficiency bill Senator 
Portman and I introduced recently in the Senate. It tracks closely to 
legislation we have been working on actually for 4 years, the Energy 
Savings and Industrial Competitiveness Act, also known as Shaheen-
Portman.
  The legislation before us, H.R. 2126, is really a shortened version 
of Shaheen-Portman. Unfortunately, as we know, the longer version, the 
energy efficiency act, has stalled twice on the Senate floor--not due 
to concerns about what was in the bill but because of disagreements 
over other issues that were related to energy but unrelated to our 
bill.
  While we may not be able to pass the larger bill this session, the 
Senate still has an opportunity to pass meaningful energy efficiency 
legislation by passing H.R. 2126. This is bipartisan legislation that 
was introduced in the House by Representatives McKinley, a Republican 
from West Virginia, and Welch, a Democrat from Vermont, and passed the 
House earlier this year with overwhelming support from both sides of 
the aisle, 375 to 36.
  That broad bipartisan support extends beyond Capitol Hill. It enjoys 
the support of business groups and environmental organizations and 
efficiency advocates who all recognize that energy efficiency is the 
cheapest, fastest way to begin addressing the Nation's energy needs. 
Supporters include everyone from the Natural Resources Defense Council, 
to the U.S. Green Building Council, to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, 
and the Real Estate Roundtable. The list of businesses and 
organizations that have endorsed this bill numbers over 200.
  This bill contains several provisions that will encourage efficient 
energy consumption, and as a result of this legislation, consumers and 
families will save money. The legislation will grow our economy, create 
jobs, and it will reduce pollution. It really is a win-win.
  Even though it is not the longer version of energy efficiency 
legislation Senator Portman and I have been working on for the last 4 
years, it will do a number of things that are critical to address our 
energy needs.
  First, it will create a voluntary, market-based tenant star program. 
This is modeled after the successful ENERGY STAR labeling program from 
building owners. It sets up a voluntary certification system for 
efficiency and commercial tenant spaces.
  I see my colleague from New Hampshire Senator Ayotte, who I think is 
going to speak to this provision in the bill.
  I think it is important to remind people that what it does not do is 
provide financial incentives or create new regulations. It does not do 
that. It is a voluntary, market-based, business-friendly approach to 
encourage energy efficiency in commercial buildings. It also will 
establish a benchmarking and disclosure process for energy consumed in 
federally leased buildings, so we will all know how much energy is 
being consumed.
  Third, it will require Federal agencies to implement strategies to 
increase the efficiency of data centers that are operated by the 
Federal Government--a huge user of energy.
  Finally, it will remove a regulatory barrier to the manufacturer of 
large-scale water heaters. It is something Senator Hoeven has been 
working on for a long time.
  These four commonsense, targeted provisions are widely supported. As 
I said, they will grow our economy and help create jobs and demand for 
the American-made energy efficiency technologies. They will save 
businesses and families money on their energy bills, and they will cut 
pollution.
  I am pleased to join Senator Portman in this unanimous consent 
request, and I am disappointed that once again we are going to be 
prevented from moving forward with commonsense energy efficiency 
measures. I do hope that with the continued support on both sides of 
the aisle for energy efficiency, we will be able to come back before 
the end of this year and pass this measure.
  Thank you very much.
  I yield the floor.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from New Hampshire.
  Ms. AYOTTE. Mr. President, first of all, I wish to thank my colleague 
from New Hampshire for her leadership on this important legislation, 
and I join her request, as well as the Senator from Ohio, Mr. Portman's 
request for unanimous consent on H.R. 2126 that passed the House 
overwhelmingly in March by a vote of 375 to 36. Why is that? Because 
this is commonsense, bipartisan legislation that creates jobs, 
increases energy efficiency, reduces the amount of energy we need to 
use, and less pollution--and think about our overall goals of making 
sure America remains safe, energy independent, and energy secure, and 
it does it all in a way that is market-based, in a way that you have 
seen overwhelming support from both the business community and the 
environmental community.
  This House bill on which we are asking unanimous consent is a 
companion bill to the work done by Senators Portman and Shaheen in the 
Energy Efficiency Improvement Act, of which I am proud to be a 
cosponsor. This is an area where I believe we can find strong common 
ground in this body--energy efficiency measures that are market based, 
that move us forward to use less energy and create American jobs.
  Within this bill is a provision called the Better Buildings Act, 
which I was proud to introduce with Senator Bennet from Colorado, and 
this is commonsense, no-cost legislation that would help boost energy 
efficiency in commercial buildings through the design and construction 
of efficiency improvements in leased tenant spaces in commercial 
buildings. So one of the important pieces of this legislation that is 
contained in the Better Buildings Act actually brings the tenants into 
the discussion. It is voluntary. It creates a situation where we have 
tenants and owners working together to reduce energy costs, save us 
money, and create jobs.
  So I am hopeful that this bill will be cleared, this legislation. If 
you look at the list of groups that are supporting this legislation, it 
is not often that these groups all come together, and it really speaks 
to the commonsense nature of this legislation, the importance of it.
  I, again, want to thank my colleagues for their leadership, 
especially Senator Shaheen and Senator Portman. I hope as a body we can 
get this done because this is just plain common sense.

[[Page S6855]]

  I yield the floor.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from Alaska.
  Ms. MURKOWSKI. Mr. President, I too want to join in the unanimous 
consent that has been raised by my colleagues Senator Portman and 
Senator Shaheen on this very important bill. I have to say it feels a 
little bit like instead of calling it the energy efficiency bill, we 
need to call it the groundhog day bill because it just keeps coming 
back. It is a measure that, as my colleagues have mentioned, is so 
commonsense. When we think about ways that we can do more to be 
responsible stewards of our energy resources and do more to reduce our 
costs, energy efficiency is just calling to us all.
  What we have in front of us today is not the full-on energy 
efficiency bill that Senators Shaheen and Portman have been working so 
diligently on for so many years now, but it is a slimmed-down version 
coming across from the House, a House-drafted, Republican-sponsored, 
cost neutral bill that passed that Chamber on suspension back in March, 
as was noted, by an overwhelming margin of 375 to 36. There are four 
major provisions in the bill, but none of these provisions are 
controversial. Probably the most important to us right now is the time-
sensitive provision that provides regulatory relief for our rural 
electric co-ops. Under a consent decree from 2010, water heater 
manufacturers have until just mid-April--April 16--of this next year to 
meet revised minimum efficiency standards from the Department of 
Energy.

  So you have got a situation where, in anticipation of this deadline, 
companies that make certain types of water heaters are already stopping 
their production. As a result, you are going to have co-ops that will 
effectively no longer have the ability to purchase them and use them in 
their systems. So they are coming to us and saying, ``Help.'' We need 
to have some certainty here and now.
  What we do in this measure--what the House does is simply exempt 
rural co-ops and creates a different, achievable standard for them. It 
is a compromise that has been forged by the co-ops, the industry, the 
Department of Energy. Senator Hoeven has been leading on this and has 
been great. This is something that needs to be addressed and it needs 
to be addressed now rather than later.
  The remaining provisions within this measure are all voluntary 
efficiency programs. One focuses on the efficiency of commercial office 
buildings, another provides greater information about energy usage in 
the buildings, and then the third looks at energy-efficient government 
technology and practices.
  Again, none of these are controversial. None of them impose mandates, 
penalties, or taxes. CBO has deemed them to cost nothing. So there is 
only benefit. There is only an upside. So, again, we have seen the 
full-on energy efficiency measure before us now two separate times on 
this floor. We have reported that bill from the energy committee on a 
strong bipartisan basis.
  We really should be moving to do right when it comes to energy 
efficiency. Senators Shaheen and Portman have led that effort. The 
House has now acted. It is unfortunate that we will not be able to 
resolve this. But I am certainly committed to working with my 
colleagues in the new year to advance what, again, is just simple 
common sense.
  I yield the floor.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from North Dakota.
  Mr. HOEVEN. Mr. President, I would like to thank the Senator from 
Alaska for her leadership of our energy committee on this and many 
other important energy issues. I want to follow along with much of what 
she just covered and why it is important.
  In this legislation, which is sponsored by Senator Portman and 
Senator Shaheen, there are a number of energy efficiency measures. But 
the one she emphasized and the one which I want to emphasize is the 
water heater efficiency provision. This is a commonsense provision. It 
is very important for people in rural areas across the country.
  The rural electric cooperatives have been very strong on working to 
get this legislation passed. They have gotten it passed in the House on 
behalf of all of those people out there in rural America where this can 
make a real difference in terms of quality of life, but at the same 
time save energy and save money. So it is one of those measures where 
everyone wins all the way around.
  We have sponsored this in a number of different forms. We have not 
been able to move it through the Senate yet. We will, I am convinced, 
move it through next year. But as the good Senator from Alaska said, 
there are some timelines here that make it very important that we get 
the measure passed.
  Essentially what we are dealing with is in 2010, the Department of 
Energy issued a rule on water heaters that will effectively ban the 
manufacture of large electric water heaters beginning in 2015--so next 
year--which could greatly affect consumers in rural areas and hurt the 
effectiveness of some of our demand-response rural programs.
  Many of our rural areas are not serviced by natural gas, and 
geothermal water heaters can cost many thousands of dollars. So this is 
a practical win-win amendment that improves the efficiency of electric 
water heaters but still lets our rural areas have access to affordable, 
efficient water heaters that can supplement renewable energy.
  Electric cooperatives and other utilities have voluntary demand-
response programs that use electric water heaters to more effectively 
manage power supply and demand. In those areas where renewables are 
part of the electric generation system, those water heaters facilitate 
the integration of renewable energy that can be stored for use during 
peak hours, like wind and solar energy.
  So this provision would allow the continued manufacture of large 
grid-enabled electric resistance water heaters only for use in electric 
thermal storage or demand-response programs, meaning you are using 
offpeak load. So you are using lower cost energy, energy that otherwise 
would be lost. So, again, it really is a win for everybody involved.
  This provision would require grid-enabled water heaters to have a 
volume of more than 75 gallons, be energy efficient, and work on grids 
that have a demand-response program. It is that simple. It is that 
straightforward. It is that commonsense.
  But it affects a tremendous number of people across rural America, 
people in States such as Indiana, North Dakota, Ohio, across the 
country. I am convinced we are going to get this. The issue is when. We 
are facing this timeline, as I say, in 2015.
  I will conclude with some of the organizations that support this 
legislation. I do not know of anyone opposing it. We have got a 
tremendous number of organizations that support it, including the Air 
Conditioning, Heating, and Refrigeration Institute, the American 
Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy, the American Public Power 
Association, Edison Electric Institute, the General Electric Company, 
National Rural Electric Cooperative Association, the National Resource 
Defense Council, the Northwest Energy Alliance.
  The bill saves money, it saves energy, it benefits the environment, 
it benefits consumers. Look, we need to get it passed. This bill on the 
floor easily gets more than enough to pass on a bipartisan basis with 
flying colors.
  I would certainly yield the floor to our leader on this important 
issue, the good Senator from Ohio.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from Ohio.
  Mr. PORTMAN. Mr. President, I thank my colleague from North Dakota. 
He has done a great job of talking about the importance of the overall 
bill, and then these four small provisions we are trying to do tonight. 
But specifically he made a great point about the importance of dealing 
with this water heater issue. He feels it every day, because in North 
Dakota he is hearing from his rural electric co-ops saying: This is 
crazy. Why would we not go ahead and pass this legislation?
  In effect, what he just said was: We need to pass this legislation to 
be able to keep the Federal Government from imposing a regulation that 
makes no sense for anybody, whether you believe in energy efficiency or 
not. It makes no sense for anybody.
  I am hopeful we can get this done. I know we had an objection earlier 
in the

[[Page S6856]]

process this evening. I am hopeful we can convince the colleague from 
Oklahoma who objected that this is commonsense legislation that has to 
get passed.
  We have heard from Senator Shaheen also, who has been the Democrat 
leader on this with me. We also heard from the chairman of the energy 
committee come January, Senator Murkowski, a Republican from Alaska. 
She is a strong supporter. We have heard from Senator Ayotte, also a 
Republican from New Hampshire, who is an expert on energy efficiency as 
it relates to what is called Tenant Star and better building programs. 
This is one thing that we ought to be getting done here during this 
lameduck session of Congress. We are doing other things that I think 
could be improved, but this is one where it is so simple.
  Just to be sure people understand what we are talking about tonight, 
these are four provisions that have all passed the Senate committees, 
have all passed the House committees--unanimously, by the way, these 
four provisions passed unanimously in the Republican House of 
Representatives. It has come to the floor twice here in the Senate.
  For other reasons which had to do with process and not allowing 
amendments, the overall bill was objected to, but not these four 
provisions. Then these four provisions went to the House floor for a 
vote. They were passed overwhelmingly 375 to 36. This is the sort of 
legislation that has been fully vetted. Everybody knows what is in it. 
It is being supported across the spectrum. We could help people right 
away.
  There is also an urgency here, because these manufacturers that are 
making these water heaters that the Department of Energy, under their 
regulations, wants to prohibit, those manufacturers are telling us the 
deadline is right now. Even though it is not until March-April that the 
regulations have a deadline, the manufacturers are already stopping 
production of these water heaters because it takes that long to get 
them manufactured and get them distributed out to those rural co-ops.
  It is urgent that we do this now and not wait until January. If we do 
not, we are going to hurt a lot of consumers and we are going to hurt a 
lot of these rural electric co-ops, and again do something that makes 
no sense. You want to encourage these water heaters to be built, 
because these water heaters are part of a program where, because they 
are not used during peak times, called the demand-response program, 
they actually save energy. This is a good thing. I am hopeful that 
provision will be able to get through, along with the others.
  This is a bill, again, that has already passed the House, unanimously 
out of committee, overwhelming vote on the floor. All we have to do 
tonight is say yes and it goes to the President for his signature. The 
administration has indicated they will sign it. It will then become 
law.
  There are three other provisions we should also talk about. One is 
called the Tenant Star provision. It was talked about a little bit 
earlier tonight. Let me be sure people understand what it is.
  Some of you are aware of a program for appliances called ENERGY STAR. 
That is so you, as the consumer, can go into an appliance store and 
determine whether something meets the standard, the Good Housekeeping 
Seal for energy efficiency. When we bought a dryer recently, that was 
nice to be able to know whether it had the stamp of approval. Some 
people like energy-efficient appliances. Why? It saves you money. It is 
also good for the environment. So that is not a mandate. It is not a 
tax incentive. It is not a grant program. It contains no regulatory 
authority. There is nothing in it that requires any new spending. But 
it does give a boost and a powerful branding opportunity to commercial 
real estate owners to market their buildings to tenants, investors, and 
other key audiences. It says, just as the appliance Good Housekeeping 
Seal says, it says to a business owner: This tenant space is efficient. 
It meets the Tenant Star requirements. That is why this provision is so 
strongly supported by the commercial real estate industry, 
organizations such as the Real Estate Roundtable, the International 
Council of Shopping Centers.
  By the way, the industry considers this provision as an important 
alternative to onerous regulations. They like this because this is 
voluntary. As consumers, we should all like it, because it is something 
that gives us more information to be able to make a good decision.
  The third provision we are talking about tonight has to do with the 
Federal Government. Let me make this very clear. The Federal Government 
is the biggest user of energy in the world, and one of the 
most inefficient, unfortunately. So the Federal Government said: 
Everybody needs to be more focused on energy efficiency.

  As I looked at this, we ought to get the Federal Government to 
practice what it preaches. That is what this provision does. It does it 
with regard to information technology. We hear constantly from outside 
groups that this is one area that is ripe for savings. In other words, 
there are lots of energy savings that could be accomplished in the 
energy area through information technology being used more efficiently.
  We have had hearings on this, had testimony on this. We know this is 
an area where we can have a lot of savings. This would require the 
Federal Government, again, to coordinate with the Office of Management 
and Budget, with the Department of Energy, with EPA, to develop an 
implementation strategy that includes best practices, measurements, 
verification techniques for the maintenance of IT, the purchase of IT, 
the use of energy-efficient information technology.
  There is so much more we can do here with regard to IT. We know that. 
That is why it passed the House unanimously in committee and 
overwhelmingly on the floor, because we know this is an area where the 
Federal Government--your tax dollars being spent can be much more 
efficient, good for the environment, good for taxpayers, less energy, 
and overall good for our energy policy in this country.
  Finally, the fourth provision. Remember, four simple provisions have 
to do with an existing requirement that commercial buildings leased by 
the Federal Government have to disclose their energy usage. This 
modifies that provision. It says you have got to provide more 
information with regard to what the actual energy usage is in these 
buildings.
  Again, the Federal Government--recall, largest energy user in the 
world--to make them more efficient with regard to their buildings makes 
all the sense in the world. These are commercial buildings leased by 
the Federal Government. So, again, this is not a mandate on the private 
sector. This does not cost anything. It does say that we need to modify 
the requirements of commercial buildings leased by the Federal 
Government to disclose their energy usage data.
  This would help all of us. These are commonsense proposals. They are 
bipartisan. They are long overdue. They can go to the President after a 
vote tonight for his signature. They could become law.
  I want to thank everyone who has been involved in this small bill, 
getting it to the floor, including Senator Murkowski, whom we heard 
from earlier, who is the ranking member, soon to be Chair of the energy 
committee; also Senator Landrieu, the current Chair of that committee. 
Also Senator Ayotte we heard from, Senator Shaheen, Senator Hoeven, 
Senator Bennet were on the floor earlier to speak on this issue.
  I want to thank the many industry groups, the businesses, the energy 
efficiency organizations out there that have helped us to craft 
legislation with such broad support.
  The least expensive energy is energy we don't use. Yes, we should 
produce more energy. I am for that. We should also use the energy we 
have more efficiently. It helps create jobs. It helps make our country 
safer because it is a national security issue to make America energy 
independent.
  It ensures that we will have a better environment, and it ensures 
that every dollar a small business or manufacturer is spending on 
energy is used most efficiently. It makes us more competitive in this 
global economy we find ourselves in. That leads to more jobs, higher 
wages, all the things we should be doing in this Congress.
  I thank the Presiding Officer for listening tonight. I thank the 
American people for listening, and I hope they

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will strongly support the legislation we are putting forward tonight 
and the broader bill that will come to the floor we hope after the 
first of the year, because after the first of the year we will have a 
chance to take up this issue, not only these four provisions if they 
aren't passed over the next couple of days but a broader bill that will 
be broadly supported by Republicans and Democrats alike that will help 
our country become more energy efficient.
  I yield back the remainder of my time and I suggest the absence of a 
quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Ms. Warren). The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. WALSH. I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call 
be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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