Letter to Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer, Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy - Sens. Ossoff, Casey, Whitehouse Pushing to Reduce Energy Costs for Businesses & Manufacturers

Letter

Dear Leader Schumer, Leader McConnell, Speaker Pelosi and Leader McCarthy:

As you negotiate a final compromise bill addressing American economic and technological competitiveness, we write to urge inclusion of three provisions in the House-passed America COMPETES Act. These three provisions--the State Flex-Tech Energy Program, CITA commercial deployment addition, and the First Three program--would strengthen our industrial base by increasing its energy efficiency and reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. More than one-fourth of U.S. GHG emissions come from the industrial sector, such as steel, aluminum, and cement. These emissions are projected to increase if we do not invest significantly in the research, development, and deployment of commercial-scale decarbonization technologies. Rapidly scaling energy-efficient and emissions-reducing solutions is not only necessary to achieve our near- and long-term emissions goals, but to advancing U.S. global leadership and competitiveness in the fight against the climate crisis. It is also essential that we promote innovation in clean, energy-efficient manufacturing and production to ensure we maintain a thriving domestic industrial sector. Workers in our power plants, steel mills, and other emission-heavy manufacturing sites provide the electricity and materials that power the American economy. Prioritizing investments in our industrial base will not only improve efficiency and reduce GHG emissions and co-pollutants, but drive growth in energy communities across the nation, protecting and creating high quality jobs and increasing the global competitiveness of American companies. In order to further these goals, we ask that the final bill include: 1. The State Flex-Tech Energy Program (Sec. 20307). This program would enable states and tribes to invest in American manufacturers and industrial facilities to better manage energy and reduce costs and GHG emissions. This language is included in Senator Ossoff's Industrial Energy-Efficient Technology Act (S.3205) and in Representative Tonko's State Industrial Competitiveness Act of 2021 (H.R.4676).