House Appropriations Moves Much Needed Support for Clean Energy Industry

(Washington, D.C.- July 14, 2020) Yesterday the House Appropriations Committee voted to advance its FY2021 Energy and Water appropriations proposal. This bill provides robust levels of funding for DOE’s clean energy, vehicles and science programs and includes emergency funding to modernize our energy system and electric grid.

“We commend Chairwoman Lowey, Subcommittee Chairwoman Kaptur and House Appropriations Committee members for standing up for the over 620,000 clean energy workers who have been laid off since March by proposing strong funding for clean energy and clean transportation programs. This bill sends an important signal that our country is focused on the clean energy sector, which has a huge potential in helping our economy recover - especially since it was growing 70% faster than the economy as a whole before the pandemic started.

“This bill demonstrates we can and must work to rebuild a better future that is cleaner, healthier and safer, even as we continue to focus on addressing the immediate health crisis of the COVID-19 pandemic. For example, by including new funding for a DOE pilot program to increase deployment of clean, electric school buses, we can support jobs while letting our children breathe easier and building the clean energy future they deserve.

“This year’s House Energy and Water bill also makes important and significant investments for water conservation. It will implement the landmark Drought Contingency Plan across the Colorado River Basin to conserve surface water and groundwater, and it also supports the Bureau of Reclamation’s Drought Response Program to build needed resilience to droughts that are getting more extreme as a result of climate change.”

• Elizabeth Gore, Senior Vice President, Political Affairs

Key provisions in the FY2021 Energy/Water Appropriations bill include:

• Funding increases to DOE Clean Energy & Science Programs & including billions in emergency funding to modernize the energy systems and the electric grid. These include:

· $2.85 billion for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, an increase of $58 million above the FY 2020 level and $2.1 billion above the request.

· $7.05 billion to DOE’s Office of Science, an increase of $50 million above the FY 2020 level and $1.2 billion above the request.

· $435 million for ARPA-E, an increase of $10 million above the FY 2020 level and rejects the President’s proposal to eliminate the program.

· Rejects the President’s proposal to eliminate DOE’s Loan Guarantee Programs and includes funding consistent with the FY 2020 levels.

• $40 Million for Direct Air Capture (DAC) R&D

• No less than $40 million for electric drive R&D, including electrification technologies, in the DOE Vehicles Technologies Program.

• At least $10 Million for an EV school bus pilot program at the Department of Energy

• To support the economic recovery from the coronavirus pandemic, the bill provides an additional $23.5 billion in emergency funding for DOE to modernize energy infrastructure, including:

• $7.78 billion to deploy energy efficient and clean energy infrastructure throughout the country and ensure that low-income households across the country have energy-efficient, more livable homes.

• $3.35 billion to enhance the resilience, reliability, and security of electric grid infrastructure.

• $1.25 billion to build demonstrations in negative emissions technologies and carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) technologies and improve infrastructure at national laboratories.

• $250 million in demonstrations of transformational energy technologies through ARPA-E

• $40 Million Funding for the Drought Contingency Plan. Last year, Congress worked with EDF, coalition partners, states and others and overwhelmingly passed the Colorado River Drought Contingency Plan Authorization Act to help the seven Western states of the Colorado River Basin address increased occurrences of drought driven by climate change

• $5 Million for Bureau of Reclamation’s Drought Response Program.
  
   
• $60 Million for the WaterSMART Program.
  
   
• $67 Million for Water Reclamation and Reuse Program.