US Senate approves energy bill: Update
The Senate voted 85-12 in favor of the measure. The broad, bipartisan support for the bill improves the chances that Congress can enact its first major energy bill since 2007.
Supporters of the bill say it will let the US take advantage of its new-found oil and gas wealth, while also supporting energy efficiency and renewable energy programs that will help reduce US greenhouse gas emissions.
"This bill will help America produce more energy, and at the same time will help Americans save money with energy efficiency," Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee chair Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) said.
The bill will now head to a conference committee, where congressional leaders will try to combine the bill with a more partisan version passed by Republicans in the US House of Representatives last year. Reconciling the differences between the two bills could take time, which is in short supply because of the election year.
"There are some keen differences between the House bill and the Senate bill, so we have our work cut out for us," Murkowski said today.
The energy bill seeks modest changes to federal policy related to permitting, infrastructure, electric grid reliability and efficiency. Republican and Democratic senators blocked controversial provisions from the bill to retain bipartisan support, hoping to avoid the fate of past energy bills that failed because of opposition from a small number of senators.
But in many ways the energy bill was eclipsed late last year by a \\$1.1 trillion spending bill that repealed 40-year-old restrictions on crude exports and extended for five years federal tax credits that benefit solar and wind generation. Analysts expect those changes will drive sizable shifts in US power generation, while enabling the US to become a larger exporter of crude.
Oil and gas groups have said the energy bill is helpful but unlikely to significantly reduce delays that have become common for energy infrastructure projects. The bill aims to speed permitting of natural gas pipelines by giving the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission more authority to control the timing of environmental reviews, although the agency could not enforce deadlines.
These provisions are "modest in nature, providing incremental transparency and accountability in the permitting and approval of natural gas pipelines," the gas pipeline trade group the Interstate Natural Gas Association of America said.
The bill would also require the US Energy Department to act on applications to export LNG within 45 days after federal environmental reviews are complete. Project developers could then try to enforce those deadlines in court. The trade group the Center for LNG said the bill represented a "watershed moment" that would provide developers "confidence in the regulatory process."
The bill includes dozens of provisions designed to improve energy efficiency, such as creating new building codes and requiring federal buildings to cut energy waste. It also would create a program supporting research and development into coal technology, such as heat rate improvements and ways to advance carbon capture and sequestration technology.
The Senate yesterday amended the energy bill to give the US government more flexibility over when to sell 58mn bl of crude from the SPR. Congress last year decided to sell the crude to help pay for a bipartisan budget deal, but lawmakers worry prescriptive sales requirements could cause the US to leave money on the table.
"Whenever the oil is sold from the SPR, it should be when the best price is fetched," said senator Bill Cassidy (R-Louisiana), who co-sponsored the amendment.
The amendment would grant the US energy secretary the flexibility to "increase the drawdown and sales" required from the SPR if doing so would maximize financial returns. It also directs the agency to stop selling crude after it raises \\$5bn. The SPR now holds 695.1mn bl of crude, according to government data.
Environmental groups have offered some criticism of the energy bill, in part over concerns with provisions that would make it easier to build gas infrastructure and to export LNG. The Environmental Defense Fund today said the bill "fails to seriously address climate change."
Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee ranking member Maria Cantwell (D-Washington) said concerns about the bill's LNG export provisions were unwarranted. The energy bill only puts into statute the existing practices the Energy Department already follows when processing export applications, she said.
Комментарии