On July 10, the House Energy and Commerce, Energy and Air Quality (E&AQ) Subcommittee Chairman Rick Boucher (D-VA) will hold a hearing on H.R. 6528, the Carbon Capture and Storage Early Deployment Act, a bill that would create a multibillion-dollar fund to accelerate the employment of carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology.
The bill is a bipartisan effort by E&AQ Chairman Boucher (D-VA) and Ranking Member Fred Upton (R-MI) to provide significant financial support for large-scale CCS technology projects, rather than relying on the limited funds currently available -- or wait for the billions of dollars that might exist from auction revenues 10 to 15 years from now if a cap-and-trade bill is enacted.
The bill essentially requires power companies that use coal, natural gas and oil to pay fees to set up the 10-year $1 billion annual fund. According to Chairman Boucher, utilities could pass on those fees to their customers, which could add about $10 to $12 to residential customers' annual rates. The bill sets up a Carbon Storage Research Corporation -- after approval by two-thirds of fossil-fuel based utilities – that would be managed by the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI). If established, the Corporation would operate outside the federal government as a part of the EPRI and would not be subject to the annual budget or appropriations process. Once established, the new entity would be authorized to assess fees on consumers of fossil fuel based electricity. EPRI would be responsible for distributing the funds which demonstrate carbon capture and storage technologies, to projects by private, academic and government organizations.
The legislation also does not address the tricky issue of liability for storing millions of tons of carbon dioxide under the ground, which is untested on a large scale and that utilities say is a significant hurdle in the decision to deploy CCS technology.
Organizations testifying at Thursdays hearing include: American Electric Power; Carnegie Mellon University; EPRI; North Carolina Utilities Commission; the United Mine Workers of America; and the Natural Resources Defense Council.
Boucher has consistently said the bill is a "necessary first step" toward implementing an effective cap-and-trade bill. Boucher has said he expects to unveil a cap-and-trade bill later this year. It is possible, however, that H.R. 6528, could move through the subcommittee later this year, while the larger effort will not start in earnest until the 111th Congress.