On March 25, Morgan Meguire's Lori Pickford, representatives from the American Public Power Association (APPA) and other public power entities met with Senate Finance Committee staff to discuss the need to extend and modify the existing Clean Renewable Energy Bond (CREB) program. Staff clearly understood our position on the changes needed to the CREB rules, and seemed supportive of the negotiated tax package (with these changes) that failed in the Senate by one vote in December.
It became clear in the meeting that, while there is broad bi-partisan support for advancing a comprehensive energy tax package there is no clear path to get that package out of the Senate, much less to the President for his signature, at this time. Staff said opposition by the White House and Republican Leadership to the oil and gas provisions included in the bill to "pay for" the package was strong, making it difficult to secure the 60 votes needed to pass a comprehensive tax bill.
Ultimately, staff said, the expiring energy incentive provisions may be part of a larger "extender" package that is passed at the end of the session. In fact, Sens. Maria Cantwell (D-WA) and John Ensign (R-NV) are expected to introduce a one-year energy extender bill later this week. The risk in this approach is that the technical changes public power is seeking in the CREB program may not be included. If the Senate moves in this direction, Committee staff agreed to work with us to include the CREB language that was included in the negotiated package approved in December.
Morgan Meguire is working on behalf of NEPPA with a broad coalition of businesses, environmental organizations, utilities, and associations working to get a bill with long-term renewable and energy-efficiency tax credits passed in the Senate this April. NEPPA has agreed to sign onto a stakeholder letter, expected to be sent to all Senators tomorrow, explicitly supporting a long-term extension of the CREBS program, the solar investment tax credit (ITC), wind production credit, biomass and geothermal credits, energy efficiency tax credits, renewable fuels credits, and PHEV credits. This group is also targeting legislators from key states to garner additional support. Morgan Meguire will send NEPPA the final letter once it is distributed.
In addition, APPA and the Large Public Power Council (LPPC) are working on their own Senate letter highlighting the need for the technical reforms to the CREBs program.