On Thursday, May 21, 2009, the full Committee on Energy and Commerce of the U.S. House of Representatives passed, by vote of 33 to 25, comprehensive energy legislation, H.R. 2454, the American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009 ("ACES" or the "ACES bill"). Blank Rome recently compiled a detailed summary of some of major provisions of the legislation, including creation of a federal renewable energy and energy efficiency portfolio standard and the greenhouse gas emissions reduction requirements.
The heart of the ACES bill is an amendment to the Clean Air Act that would grant the government the power to limit domestic greenhouse gas emissions. The bill requires entities engaging in specified activities that result in the release of greenhouse gases, and eventually any entity emitting more than twenty five thousand tons of greenhouse gases (carbon dioxide equivalent) annually, to procure emissions allowances from the government. The government reduces greenhouse gas emissions be reducing the number of emissions allowances available over time.
In addition to reducing greenhouse gas emissions, the ACES bill contains a number of provisions designed to reform America's energy economy. The act creates a federal renewable electricity standard to require retail electric suppliers to meet a certain percentage of their load with electricity from renewable sources. Beginning in 2012, retail electric suppliers must meet six percent of their load requirement with electricity from renewable sources or energy savings. This percentage gradually rises until 2020, at which point retail electric suppliers must use electricity generated from renewable sources to meet twenty percent of their load requirements. The bill gives the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission the authority to allow utilities to use energy efficiency gains to meet the renewable electricity standard.
The ACES bill also contains provisions to promote carbon capture and sequestration, encourage the development of electricity transmission infrastructure capable of handling the increased use of electric vehicles and that incorporates smart grid technologies, establish more stringent energy efficiency building codes, and provide worker training for green jobs.
Eight other House committees have jurisdiction over portions of the bill and allowing all those committees weigh in will certainly keep the bill from moving to the House floor quickly. However, it appears that some of the committees will be waiving their right to a full committee markup and instead hope to get their concerns addressed through a Manager's Amendment that is expected to be offered on the House floor. While Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) has discussed having the bill on the floor the week of June 22, it remains unclear if this deadline will be met.
Blank Rome will continue to follow any additional activity related to H.R. 2454.
Please click on the links below to read a more complete summary of some of the biggest components of the bill. Please note that this summary was written using the Amendment in the Nature of Substitute introduced by Chairman Waxman on May 18. Accordingly, some of the details of the latest version of the bill approved by the committee may be different from those described in this summary.
- Title I (Federal RPS)
- Title II (Energy Efficiency)
- Title III (Safe Climate Act)
- Title IV (Clean Economy)
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.