December 15, 2020
by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
December 15, 2020
The House and Senate on Dec. 14 reached a deal on a bipartisan, bicameral energy bill that includes several provisions that the American Public Power Association supports.
Lawmakers hope to include the “Energy Act of 2020” in a must-pass government funding bill.
The draft energy bill, which covers a wide range of energy topics including nuclear power, energy efficiency, energy storage, and carbon capture, is the result of a compromise between the American Energy Innovation Act (AEIA), introduced last March by Senators Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) and Joe Manchin (D-WV), and the Clean Economy Jobs and Innovation Act, which passed the House of Representatives in September by a vote of 220 to 185.
Controversial provisions, and those which APPA did not support, including several Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act section 111(d) “must consider” requirements, a requirement for the Department of Energy (DOE) to report on the interregional transmission planning process, and for the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to issue a rulemaking on the interregional transmission planning process, did not make it into the final energy package.
At the same time, the bill does not include language APPA supported to assist public power and rural electric cooperatives with their cybersecurity efforts.
Overall, several provisions that APPA supports made it into this compromise deal, while provisions that APPA opposed in the Clean Economy Jobs and Innovation Act (H.R. 4447) have not been included.
Notable provisions include:
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