[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 73 (Monday, April 29, 2024)]
[House]
[Pages H2651-H2652]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          CLEAN ENERGY DEMONSTRATION TRANSPARENCY ACT OF 2023

  Mr. LUCAS. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill 
(H.R. 1069) to amend the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act to 
require reporting regarding clean energy demonstration projects, and 
for other purposes, as amended.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                               H.R. 1069

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

        This Act may be cited as the ``Clean Energy Demonstration 
     Transparency Act of 2023''.

     SEC. 2. PROJECT MANAGEMENT AND OVERSIGHT REPORTING 
                   REQUIREMENTS.

        Subsection (h) of section 41201 of the Infrastructure 
     Investment and Jobs Act (42 U.S.C. 18861) is amended by 
     adding at the end following new paragraph:
       ``(3) Further reports.--
       ``(A) In general.--Not later than six months after the date 
     of the enactment of this paragraph and at least semiannually 
     thereafter, the Secretary shall submit to the Committee on 
     Science, Space, and Technology and the Committee on 
     Appropriations of the House of Representatives and the 
     Committee on Energy and Natural Resources and the Committee 
     on Appropriations of the Senate a report, and make publicly 
     available in digital online format, that contains, for the 
     period covered by each such report, for each covered project 
     or other demonstration project administered or supported by 
     the program, the following:
       ``(i) A copy of any initial contracts or financial 
     assistance agreements executed between the Department and an 
     award recipient, including any related documentation, as the 
     Secretary determines appropriate.
       ``(ii) A list of any material, technical, or financial 
     milestones that have or have not been met.
       ``(iii) Any material modifications to the scope, schedule, 
     funding profile (including cost-share requirements), project 
     partners or participating entities, or budget of the project.
       ``(B) Streamlining.--To the extent practicable, the 
     Secretary may synchronize the reports required under 
     subparagraph (A) with other required reports, such as those 
     required under--
       ``(i) paragraph (1); and
       ``(ii) section 9005(e) of the Energy Act of 2020 (42 U.S.C. 
     7256c(e); enacted as division Z of the Consolidated 
     Appropriations Act, 2021).''.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
Oklahoma (Mr. Lucas) and the gentlewoman from Michigan (Ms. Stevens) 
each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Oklahoma.


                             General Leave

  Mr. LUCAS. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may 
have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and to 
include extemporaneous material on H.R. 1069, the bill now under 
consideration.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Oklahoma?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. LUCAS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 1069, the Clean Energy 
Demonstration Transparency Act of 2023 offered by the gentleman from 
Ohio (Mr. Carey). This commonsense legislation will provide Congress 
with the necessary tools to conduct thorough oversight on the 
Department of Energy's growing number of demonstration projects.
  Specifically, H.R. 1069 requires the Secretary of Energy to report to 
Congress on all demonstration projects administered by the Office of 
Clean Energy Demonstrations. As part of this report, the Secretary must 
include all contracts, milestones, schedules, and funding profiles, 
including cost-share agreements.
  DOE established OCED to carry out the technology demonstration 
projects that were authorized in the Energy Act of 2020 and the 
Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. This includes projects with 
bipartisan support such as the Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program 
and Long-Duration Energy Storage Demonstrations.
  Historically, DOE's applied energy offices have administered these 
programs, creating a natural pipeline from the lab to the field. With 
the creation of OCED, DOE put these activities in a new and untested 
office, separating expertise and adding a new layer of bureaucracy. At 
the same time, the infrastructure bill and the Inflation Reduction Act 
appropriated $27 billion to OCED to fund these projects.
  This organizational change and influx of money should concern every 
lawmaker given previous instances of DOE's mismanagement of 
demonstration projects. Already, OCED has been slow to award recipients 
and struggled to identify unique capabilities not covered by the 
applied energy offices.
  Currently, Congress lacks the necessary safeguards and the ability to 
conduct rigorous oversight over OCED and its demonstration projects. 
For example, when the Science Committee tried to get more information 
on DOE waiving the cost-share requirement for a multimillion-dollar 
project, DOE had no requirement to document or justify their decision.
  H.R. 1069 requires DOE to submit semiannual reports which include all 
contracts, agreements, and funding breakdowns, and enables Congress to 
have the tools to protect taxpayers' dollars, hold OCED accountable, 
and ensure a truly competitive selection process based on merits.
  I am proud to cosponsor this bill, along with Ranking Member Lofgren, 
and I extend my appreciation to Representative Carey for continuing his 
leadership on this issue despite no longer sitting on the Science 
Committee.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge all my colleagues to support this bill, and I 
reserve the balance of my time.
  Ms. STEVENS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, this is one of the moments where we find ourselves so 
grateful for the House Record, as we yet again are moving to pass a 
bipartisan piece of legislation, H.R. 1069, the Clean Energy 
Demonstration Transparency Act in a bipartisan fashion here, forever 
commemorated on the House floor.
  We are recognizing that here in the United States of America, our 
phenomenal Department of Energy, now being run by Michigan's former 
Governor, Secretary Jennifer Granholm, is doing clean energy. These are 
clean energy projects that are coming to fruition because of the Invest 
in America agenda promulgated by the President of the United States, 
the great Joe Biden.
  We have already in place, 3 years on, the Bipartisan Infrastructure 
Law which established a first of its kind clean energy demonstration 
office centrally coordinating the Department of Energy's larger-scale 
clean energy technology development. I really appreciate when we can 
say, as Democrats and Republicans, yes to transparency because we do 
want the world to see that we are doing clean energy, and we will lead 
the sustainability vision for the future.
  We also know that $25 billion coming out of this Bipartisan 
Infrastructure Law legislation is funding and scaling emerging 
technologies such as clean hydrogen and advanced nuclear energy, which 
is needed to tackle some of our most pressing climate challenges and 
certainly to achieve our net zero goals that we have established for 
ourselves.

  One of the initiatives that has been supported by the Office of Clean 
Energy Demonstrations, one that I am very excited about and has great 
meaning for us in Michigan, the automotive supply chain innovation 
capital of the world, is hydrogen hubs. We have these hydrogen hubs 
that have come to fruition or are being invested in out of the 
Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. Certainly, as I mentioned, these hubs 
are helping my State of Michigan. We have got the Midwest Alliance for 
Clean Hydrogen, and it is going to leverage my State's famous 
industrial power to lead the Nation in this clean energy hydrogen 
production.
  The hubs are going to benefit from this transparency legislation, 
this network of hydrogen hubs which are seeking to lower our emissions 
as a Nation

[[Page H2652]]

in certainly a very trying moment for decarbonization. We see hydrogen 
really coming into play with heavy-duty transportation and maritime 
port equipment.
  I invite everyone to take a peek at what is happening in Michigan 
because it is really quite phenomenal with these supply chain corridors 
and manufacturers and how they are adopting hydrogen. I will keep my 
finger on the pulse of their work for many years to come.
  Here we stand now with this demonstration activity. We are going to 
push for transparency. We have this great group, the chairman of the 
Science Committee and the ranking member of the Science Committee, that 
have come together to support this legislation. We want Congress to 
have a hand in it because we know when we pass these big bills, a lot 
of times we just go forward and then we are hungry to implement and 
hungry to keep a finger on the pulse and maybe we can have a couple of 
hearings, but H.R. 1069 gives us a runway. It is really quite 
essential, and it also helps the Department of Energy, particularly 
President Biden's Department of Energy, continue to do what it is doing 
really well.
  Let us all see this phenomenal bill get passed. I join the chairman 
of the Science Committee calling on my colleagues on both sides of the 
aisle to continue to push forward in a bipartisan fashion the passage 
of H.R. 1069.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

                              {time}  1645

  Mr. LUCAS. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the 
gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Carey).
  Mr. CAREY. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of a bill that will 
lead America toward an all-of-the-above energy future, H.R. 1069, the 
Clean Energy Demonstration Transparency Act.
  First, I thank Chairman Lucas, Ranking Member Lofgren, and Energy 
Subcommittee Chairman Williams for their work on bringing this bill to 
the floor. I also thank the Science, Space, and Technology Committee 
staff for their bipartisan efforts in moving this legislation forward.
  Strengthening the energy category of domestic energy production, 
including renewables, oil, gas, coal, and nuclear, will safeguard our 
supply chains, defend our national security, and, in fact, boost our 
economy.
  H.R. 1069 is a commonsense bill that will increase transparency and 
oversight of the investments in homegrown, clean energy, including the 
billions of taxpayer dollars entrusted to the newly established Office 
of Clean Energy Demonstrations.
  Specifically, the bill requires the Office of Clean Energy 
Demonstrations to submit semiannual reports to Congress regarding the 
budget, schedule, and participating entities of their demonstration 
projects.
  Mr. Speaker, I encourage my colleagues to vote ``yes'' on this bill, 
which will give Americans confidence that their taxpayer dollars are 
being used wisely in our pursuit of energy independence.
  Mr. LUCAS. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I am 
prepared to close once the gentlewoman from Michigan does.
  Ms. STEVENS. Mr. Speaker, in closing, again, I feel passionate about 
this legislation. I thank Mr. Carey for his remarks and for joining us 
on the House floor. I look forward to seeing this bill become law.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. LUCAS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time to 
close.
  Mr. Speaker, one of our most important responsibilities in Congress 
is to serve as the steward of taxpayers' dollars. I take that job very 
seriously.
  I want to see DOE and all of our Federal research agencies succeed in 
developing next-generation technologies. At the same time, we need to 
be conscious of the body and keep a watchful eye on the progress of 
these projects well before their costs balloon into multibillions of 
dollars.
  H.R. 1069 allows us to do exactly that. It increases transparency 
between DOE and Congress, enabling both sides to have beneficial 
information and insight into the successes of Federal demonstration 
projects.
  Once again, I thank Mr. Carey for leading this bill along with his 
co-sponsors, Representatives Williams, Davids, and Donalds.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this bill, and I yield 
back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from Oklahoma (Mr. Lucas) that the House suspend the rules 
and pass the bill, H.R. 1069, as amended.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the 
rules were suspended and the bill, as amended, was passed.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

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