Statements On Introduced Bills And Joint Resolutions

Floor Speech

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By Mr. MERKLEY (for himself, Mrs. Shaheen, Mr. Johnson, Mr. Lugar, Mr. Bennet, and Mr. Graham):

S. 3102. A bill to amend the miscellaneous rural development provisions of the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 to authorize the Secretary of Agriculture to make loans to certain entities that will use the funds to make loans to consumers to implement energy efficiency measures involving structural improvements and investments in cost-effective, commercial off-the-shelf technologies to reduce home energy use; to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry.

Mr. MERKLEY. Mr. President, I rise today to introduce legislation that will create jobs and lower energy bills for families and small businesses in rural communities by promoting energy-saving home renovations.

I am honored to be joined in this effort by a bipartisan group of colleagues that includes Senator Shaheen, Senator Lugar, Senator Graham, Senator Johnson, and Senator Bennet of Colorado. Our colleagues in the other chamber are introducing companion legislation sponsored by Representatives Clyburn, Perriello, Whitfield, and Spratt.

Our proposed Rural Energy Savings Program would assist rural electric co-operatives in offering ``on-bill'' financing to their customers. This concept offers two clear and important benefits for consumers, including homeowners and owners of commercial or industrial property.

First, it addresses the challenge of the up-front cost of building renovations. Energy efficiency measures almost always make business sense in the long term, because they lower the energy bill for the family or business. But often, the family or business cannot afford the upfront cost of the renovation. By offering low-cost financing, we can let families and businesses pay for the cost of the renovation on the same time frame that they are getting savings on their energy bill.

Second, we avoid complicating consumers' lives with another loan payment by offering a very simple repayment mechanism: under ``on-bill'' financing, the consumer repays the loan through a charge on their electric bill.

This bill offers these benefits to Americans across the country by using existing structures in place to provide federal assistance to rural electric co-operatives. Specifically, the Rural Utilities Service will offer loans at zero percent interest to rural co-operatives, who can then offer on-bill financing to their customers at no more than three percent interest. The difference can be used to pay the local nonprofit cooperatives' overhead expenses or to establish a loan loss reserve. There are more than 900 electric co-operatives serving 42 million Americans, so we expect this program to create jobs and help lower energy bills in rural communities all over the country.

For our rural communities to recover and thrive in the wake of the economic crisis, we need to put people back to work and lower families' expenses, and the Rural Energy Savings Program does both.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the RECORD.

There being no objection, the text of the bill was ordered to be printed in the RECORD

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