Recycled Energy Development
The web’s resource for energy recycling news and information
September 29, 2010
CONTACT:
Heather Shadur: 312.226.5100 or heather@shadur.com
WASHINGTON, DC — A growing coalition of more than 100 business, labor, and environmental organizations today urged Congress to ensure its final tax package contains an industrial energy efficiency provision that would increase manufacturing competitiveness, create jobs, and reduce pollution.
The Alliance for Industrial Efficiency sent letters to the Senate Finance Committee and the House Ways and Means Committee reiterating its backing for tax credits to promote expanded adoption of combined heat and power and waste energy recovery techniques.
Such a provision can already be found in S. 1639 (sponsored by Senators Jeff Bingaman, D-NM and Olympia Snowe, R-ME), H.R. 4751 (sponsored by Rep. Paul Tonko, D-NY and Dean Heller, R-NV), and in the House Ways and Means Committee’s draft energy tax package. If enacted, the bipartisan provision would create and preserve jobs within the industrial sector, including for the manufacture, installation, and operation of combined heat and power and waste energy recovery equipment.
“The industrial sector is a huge consumer of power, yet it’s often overlooked in the quest for energy efficiency,” said Tom Casten, chairman of Recycled Energy Development. “Manufacturers that recycle their waste energy can typically cut energy expenses by 20 percent, making them more competitive while slashing carbon emissions. Companies can then reinvest those savings in hiring more workers and expanding production.”
According to the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, combined heat and power could provide 20 percent of U.S. generating capacity by 2030 with proven technology, create nearly one million jobs, and reduce CO2 emissions by more than 800 million tons per year. Combined heat and power generation improves energy efficiency and typically costs less than conventional new generation.
“By passing industrial energy efficiency incentives now, Congress can put our men and women back to work rebuilding America.” said Michael J. Sullivan, president of Sheet Metal Workers International Association (SMWIA), and chairman of Pharmaceutical Industry Labor-Management Association (PIL-MA), the latter of which joined the Alliance just days ago. “This legislation will help us revitalize the manufacturing sector and begin to take jobs back from overseas.”
In addition to being good for business, the legislation will help America establish a new clean energy policy, even without a comprehensive climate bill.
“Improving energy efficiency in our factories should be a cornerstone of a larger energy and climate policy that cuts greenhouse emissions, reduces dependence on fossil fuels and makes America more competitive,” said Phyllis Cuttino, director of The Pew Environment Group‘s Climate and Energy Program.
Recycled energy, which captures waste energy from industrial facilities, now receives no tax benefits. Combined heat and power, a highly efficient process that generates both electricity and heat on site (also known as cogeneration or CHP), currently obtains only a 10 percent investment tax credit for the first 15 megawatts of a project limited to 50 megawatts in size. The legislative proposals in the House and Senate would encourage more large-scale projects by removing the cap, applying the tax credit to a project’s first 25 megawatts, and adding a 30 percent tax credit for recycled energy and combined heat and power projects with efficiencies above 70 percent. For comparison, the average U.S. power plant is only 33 percent efficient.
Signers of the Alliance for Industrial Efficiency’s letter include:
*ArcelorMittal USA
Capstone Turbines Corporation
Caterpillar
Cummins Power Generation
The Dow Chemical Company
Fluor
GE Energy
Ingersoll Rand
Libbey Glass Inc.
LS Power
Mosaic Company
Ormat
Nevada Energy
PPG Industries
Primary Energy
Recycled Energy Development
Saint-Gobain Containers
Solar Turbines
United Technologies Corporation
Veolia Energy North America Holdings
ACCO Engineered Systems (California, Washington, Idaho, Nevada)
ACR Sheet Metal Company
*Alphabet Energy (California)
Avalon Consulting, Inc. (Illinois)
*B&B Heating (Montana)
*Barnes and Dodge Inc. (Kansas)
BHP Energy (Ohio)
*Brennan Heating & Cooling (Montana)
*Butte Tin Shop, Inc. (Montana)
Butters-Fetting Co., Inc. (Wisconsin)
Calnetix Power Solution, Inc. (Florida)
*Cascade Energy Group (Washington)
*Central Sheet Metal, Inc. (Montana)
Charles P. Blouin Inc. (New Hampshire)
Circle “R” Mechanical, Inc. (Indiana)
Climate Energy (Massachusetts)
DCO Energy (New Jersey)
Dresser-Rand/Aircogen (Massachusetts)
*Dry Coolers Inc. (Michigan)
*Ductmasters, Inc. (Montana)
*Earthwise Energy Technologies (Rhode Island)
E-Finity Distributed Generation (Pennsylvania)
ECR International (New York)
*Empire Heating (Montana)
Endurant Energy LLC (Illinois)
*Enercon Engineering Inc. (Illinois)
Energenic LLC (New Jersey)
Energy Solutions Center (Washington, DC)
Ernest D. Menold, Inc (Pennsylvania)
Five Star Electric Motors (Texas)
GEM Inc. (Ohio and Georgia)
*Guardian Industries (Michigan)
*Hyvac Inc. (Florida)
Interstate Power Solutions (Missouri)
KGRA Energy Corporation (Illinois)
Lewis and Lambert Industries, Inc. (Texas)
Matherly Mechanical Contractors, Inc. (Oklahoma)
Melrose Metal Products (California)
*Merit Mechanical (Montana)
*Metalworks of MT (Montana)
Midwest Fabricators, LLC (Oklahoma)
*Midwest Heating & Cooling (Montana)
*Mountain Air Systems, Inc. (Montana)
National Heating & Ventilating (New Mexico)
New Loop Energy (Illinois)
*NorPac Sheet Metal, Inc. (Montana)
Office Power Energy Solutions (New York)
*Project Sheetmetal, Inc. (Montana)
Pumps and Service (New Mexico and Texas)
*Ranger Construction, Inc./dba F.L. Dye (Montana)
Reagan Equipment (Florida and Louisiana)
Regatta Solutions Inc. (California)
RHP Mechanical Systems (Nevada)
*Rocky Mountain Mechanical, Inc. (Montana)
RSP Systems (New York)
Rudolph Libbe Companies (Ohio and Michigan)
Sheet Metal Engineering, Inc. (Iowa)
*South Jersey Energy Solutions (New Jersey)
*Stricker Heating & Cooling Co. (Montana)
*Stromberg Metal Works Inc. (Maryland)
Tal-Mar Custom Metal (Illinois)
*TinWorks, Inc. (Montana)
*Tri-County Mech. & Electrical (Montana)
Turbine Air Systems (Texas)
Turbosteam (Massachusetts)
Tweet/Garot (Wisconsin)
Unison Solutions (Iowa)
*Western Sheet Metal (Montana)
Westside Mechanical Sales (Illinois)
Zeledyne (Michigan, Oklahoma, Tennessee)
American Chemistry Council
American Forest & Paper Association
Association of State Energy Research & Technology Transfer Institutions (ASERTTI)
The Association of Union Constructors
Electricity Consumers Resource Council
Glass Manufacturing Industry Council
International District Energy Association
Mechanical Contractors Association of America
*Montana SMACNA
National Association of State Energy Officials (NASEO)
National Council for Advanced Manufacturing
National Electrical Contractors Association
*+Pharmaceutical Industry Labor-Management Association
Sheet Metal and Air Conditioning Contractors’ National Association
Steel Founders’ Society of America
U.S. Clean Heat and Power Association
Alliance to Save Energy
Apollo Alliance
Business Council for Sustainable Energy
Center for American Progress Action Fund
*Climate Institute
Energy Future Coalition
Environment America
*Environmental Law and Policy Center
International Brotherhood of Boilermakers
Northeast-Midwest Institute
*Pew Environment Group
Sheet Metal Workers International Association
Sierra Club
*United Steelworkers
World Alliance for Decentralized Energy
*New signature since April 12, 2010 letter
+PIL-MA trustees include AstraZeneca LP, Bayer Healthcare Pharmaceuticals, Eli Lilly and Company, Johnson & Johnson, Merck & Co., Novartis, Pfizer, Airline Pilots Association International (ALPA), International Association of Bridge, Structural, Ornamental, and Reinforcing Iron Workers, International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF), International Brotherhood of Boilermakers (IBB), International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW), International Brotherhood of Police Associations (IUPA), PhRMA, and the Sheet Metal Workers’ Association of America (SMWIA).
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