Will Congress Reconcile Energy Bills Around Efficiency?

The Senate recently passed the bipartisan Energy Policy Modernization Act (S.2012), co-authored by Senators Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) and Maria Cantwell (D-WA), by a vote of 85-12. In 2015, the House passed its own comprehensive energy efficiency bill, the North American Energy Security and Infrastructure Act of 2015 (H.R.8). The bills will shortly head to a Conference committee whose efforts to reconcile different language, in areas like energy efficiency, could face a difficult challenge. The White House strongly opposes H.R.8, stating that it “undermines successful initiatives designed to modernize the Nation’s energy infrastructure and increase our energy efficiency.” According to an… [more]