Congressional Outlook: Short Lame-Duck Expected
The Senate returned from its Thanksgiving recess on Dec. 4 and the House returned today (Dec. 5). Members are expected to "punt" the incomplete FY07 appropriations bills to the next Congress and pass another continuing resolution (CR) to fund the government, at FY06 levels, through mid-February. The current CR expires December 8. With virtually no "must pass" bills left on the lame-duck session's agenda, other than the spending measures, moving a CR is likely to mean Congress will be in session for just a few days this week.
"Limited" Off-Shore Drilling May Move in House
Today, House Republican Leaders pulled from consideration a limited off-shore drilling bill, as supporters acknowledged that they could not muster a two-thirds majority to clear it without amendments. The bill would have limited offshore drilling to 8.3 million acres in the eastern Gulf of Mexico, which was much more palatable than the original House approach that would have opened the entire U.S. Eastern coastline to drilling. Moderate Republicans such a Reps. Charlie Bass (R-NH) and Nancy Johnson (R-CT) were working to persuade moderate Democrats that this "limited bill" is a good deal and worth supporting.
Given that moving the bill "stand- alone" was not successful, House leaders are discussing the possibility of attaching the bill (S 3711) to a package of tax breaks Republicans hope to pass before adjournment. No final decision on this approach has been made, however.
Markey to Seek Telecomm Subcommittee Chairmanship, not Resources Chair
Late last week, Rep. Ed Markey (D-MA) ended mounting speculation that he would seek the House Resources chairmanship by announcing his intention to head the powerful House Energy and Commerce's Telecommunications and the Internet Subcommittee instead. Markey had said, as recently as last Wednesday that he might challenge Rep. Nick Rahall (D-WV) for the Resources chairmanship. Rahall is currently the panel's ranking member, but Markey has more seniority, so he could have been a threat to Rahall. Markey's decision to go after the telecom subcommittee precludes him from seeking the Resources chairmanship.
Markey's decision is good news, for he supports allowing municipal utilities to provide telecommunications services to its customers. Also, this year he pushed for a "net neutrality" amendment that would force broadband Internet providers to treat similar types of online traffic equally. The Republican-led House, with the support of the big cable and phone companies, defeated the amendment. With Democrats in charge next year, Markey may have an easier time pushing his telecom agenda.
Princeton's CREBs Allocation Denied
The Princeton Municipal Light Department and the Massachusetts Municipal Wholesale Electric Company (MMWEC) were denied their request for $5.75 million in bonding authority under the Clean Renewable Energy Bonds (CREB) program. Princeton had planned to install two 1.6 MW wind turbines with the funds.
APPA is not pleased with the allocations, as it looks like a number of non-public power governmental agencies received small allocations for small solar applications and boutique fuels. In addition, a number of APPA members that are developing "large scale" projects were denied allocation. As a result, APPA and others may need to go back to Congress to request that it "reform," as well as "expand and extend" the credit in the 110th Congress.
The CREB program was included as part of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (EPAct) to assist consumer-owned utilities in offsetting the high costs associated with financing renewable generation. The program was capped at $800 million total allocation over a 2-year period. The demand for the program far exceeded the statutory dollar limit, with 709 applications requesting authority to issue over $2.6 billion in CREB bonds.
Of the approved projects for the governmental borrowers, 401 are solar facilities, 99 for wind facilities, 23 are landfill gas facilities, eight are hydropower facilities and one is for an open-loop biomass facility. Of the projects approved for the cooperatives, 33 are for solar facilities, 13 are for wind facilities, 13 are for landfill gas facilities, 12 are for open-loop biomass facilities, six are for hydropower facilities and one is for a refined coal production facility.
NEPPA members who have heard from Treasury (either approving or denying a request) should notify Lori Pickford at Morgan Meguire as well as APPA staff. Because of IRS disclosure restrictions, a final list of those receiving CREB allocations will not be released.