Should the U.S. establish an energy storage program?
Bill Summary
The Clean Economy Jobs and Innovation Act, or, as previously called, the Expanding Access to Sustainable Energy Act (EASE), will create an energy storage and microgrid grant and technical assistance program as part of the Department of Energy. This program will award grants to rural electric energy distributors for designing energy storage projects and will work with companies to improve energy efficiency. In addition, this act will allocate funds for renewable energy research and implementation. Five million dollars will be appropriated per year from 2021-2025 for this piece of legislation.
Sponsor: Rep. Tom O’Halleran (Democrat, Arizona, District 1)
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Opponents say
• “So why does this bill largely ignore basic research? H.R. 4447 doesn’t include any support for the Department of Energy’s Office of Science, which drives basic research and represents more than half of the Department’s entire civilian federal R&D portfolio. Instead, the bill before us today spends $35 billion to increase funding for every applied energy office at DOE. While applied energy programs play an important role in improving efficiency in various industry sectors, they can only do so much.
This bill is throwing money at renewable energy industries that are already mature and competitive, instead of investing in the next generation of clean energy technology. If you’ll pardon the farming analogy, this is like spending all of your money to build a better plow instead of investing in a tractor.”
Source: Rep Frank Lucas (Republican, Oklahoma, District 3)
• “I’m disappointed that during National Clean Energy Week we are considering a bill that fails to prioritize affordable and reliable energy for all Americans and only furthers radical left socialist Green New Deal priorities. H.R. 44[4]7 would spend more than 135 billion of hard-working Americans’ tax dollars … while ignoring meaningful reforms of our rural communities” Source: Rep Rick Allen (Republican, Georgia, District 12)
• “I’m disappointed that during National Clean Energy Week we are considering a bill that fails to prioritize affordable and reliable energy for all Americans and only furthers radical left socialist Green New Deal priorities. H.R. 44[4]7 would spend more than 135 billion of hard-working Americans’ tax dollars … while ignoring meaningful reforms of our rural communities” Source: Rep Rick Allen (Republican, Georgia, District 12)
Proponents say
• “Energy storage technology is increasingly being lauded as a solution to increasing energy efficiency, limiting carbon emissions, and saving money for consumers. However, as our energy market continues to evolve, it is important that the needs of our rural energy providers are not overlooked. I introduced the EASE Act to assist rural electric cooperatives in developing and implementing energy storage technology.”
Source: Rep. Tom O’ Halleran (Democrat, Arizona, District 1)
• “Rural areas like my district need to be able to keep up with technology and have the resources necessary to invest in renewable energy storage. This public-private partnership would allow rural electric co-ops to deploy energy storage projects to increase energy efficiency and provide cost savings to consumers. I am glad to see this legislation pass the full committee with bipartisan support and I look forward to supporting it on the House floor.” Source: Rep. Markwayne Mullin (Republican, Oklahoma, District 2)
• “Rural areas like my district need to be able to keep up with technology and have the resources necessary to invest in renewable energy storage. This public-private partnership would allow rural electric co-ops to deploy energy storage projects to increase energy efficiency and provide cost savings to consumers. I am glad to see this legislation pass the full committee with bipartisan support and I look forward to supporting it on the House floor.” Source: Rep. Markwayne Mullin (Republican, Oklahoma, District 2)
