Analysis of US Energy Bill

Quick Links

  Total cost of S. 2095.
  Summary and most damaging provisions of titles reviewed in S. 2095.
   "Renewable" energy tax credits. Discussion. Data Summary. Detail by Energy Type. Biomass - Largest Beneficiaries. Biomass - Factory detail on subsidies.
  Efficiency detail (Title I, HR6)
  Renewables detail (Title II HR6)
  Oil and Gas detail (Title III, HR6)  Coal detail (Title IV, HR6)
  Nuclear Matters detail (Title VI, HR6).
    Costing the nuclear energy tax credit (HR6). 
  Ethanol.  Critiquing supporter of passing the energy bill and subsidizing ethanol.

Analysis of 2003/2004 Energy Bill

Please forward any comments, corrections, or additional supporting data on the impact or cost of particular provisions so that future versions will be even more useful.  There are periodic e-mails updating people about new analysis here.  If you would like to be added to that e-mail list, please notify us at info@earthtrack.net .

I.  Summary 

The saga of the energy bill continues.  HR 6 has been replaced with S. 2095 as the conduit for the supposedly comprehensive energy policy cobbled together by the majority on the Senate Energy Committee.  In the past couple of days, the energy tax (really, the tax subsidy) title of S. 2095 has found a new home with the Senate Finance Committee, inserted into the "Jumpstart Our Business Strength" Act (cleverly, this bill has "JOBS" as an acronym).  Each new move brings with it some reshuffling and rewording in the legislation, often unannounced.  Like musical chairs, when this thing finally stops, some groups will get what they want, some won't, and the rest of us will spend a long time trying to figure out who got the cheese. 

Earth Track has updated a number of our reviews to reflect the language in S. 2095.  These show that while the Senate is promoting the bill as "lean," more than $100 billion of porcine bloat remains.  Most of the damaging provisions from HR 6 titles we reviewed in detail remain in S. 2095.  Two positive steps:  the multibillion dollar nuclear production tax credit was removed going from HR 6 to S. 2095; and the eligibility for existing paper mills to receive tax credits for converting process chemicals (most importantly black liquor) into energy was removed going from S. 2095 to the JOBS bill.   

II.  Materials Relating to S. 2095 (current version of comprehensive energy legislation)

1. Total cost of S. 2095.
2. Summary and most damaging provisions to the environment and our pocketbook of titles reviewed.
3. Detailed review of section 45(c) renewable energy tax credits: many beneficiaries are not renewable and policies will harm sustainable energy markets and land use, as well as undermine recycling.  Discussion.  Data Summary.  Detail by Energy Type.  Biomass - Largest Beneficiaries.  Biomass - Factory detail on subsidies.
4. In-depth review of specific legislative titles:  please continue to rely on the detailed work done for HR 6 (see below) as most of the sections remain unchanged.

III.  Materials Relating to HR 6

1. Total cost of HR 6.
2. HR 6 summary of most damaging provisions in titles reviewed.
3. Detailed review of section 45(c) renewable energy tax credits.
4. In-depth review of bill titles:
   • Title I - Efficiency Gov't energy use - voluntary reductions - low income energy assistance.
   • Title II - Renewables Production incentives - federal purchase requirements - insular area energy security - promotion of extraction of biomass, geothermal on federal lands - no-big oil & gas from geothermal leases - hydroelectic production incentives
   • Title III - Oil and Gas Financing Strategic Petroleum Reserve - Risks of royalties in-kind -  small refinery preferences - production subsidies - leasing in National Petroleum Reserve - subsidies to orphaned wells - possible oil and gas extraction loophole in federal tar sands production sites - oversight of LNG facilities - federal data collection of geophysical data - shifting environmental compliance costs of NEPA from developers to taxpayers - reduced oversight on lease decisions and drilling activities - exemption of injection agents from drinking water laws - improved cross-agency coordination on federal mineral leasing activities - subsidies to Alaskan natural gas pipeline.
   • Title IV - Coal More subsidies to clean coal, often earmarked for specific plants - reduced upfront planning requirements for reclamation of federal coal leases - reduced financial assurance requirements - expanded and extended federal coal leases - subsidies to pollution control.
   • Title VI - Nuclear Matters Price-Anderson cap on accident liability - deletion of recovery even in case of negligence - reduced limits on small reactors - removal of anti-trust review for nuclear facilities - siting new plants at existing federal nuclear sites - highly enriched uranium export loophole - subsidies to new enrichment capacity for Louisiana Energy Services - hydrogen production - increased subsidies to nuclear security.
5. Title XIII - Tax Subsidies
   • Introduction to how tax subsidies work.
   • Detailed review of nuclear energy tax credit.  Cost of provision is a minimum of $6 billion, and more likely more than $15 billion -- far above the $167m estimated by JCT.

Reviews do not yet cover every title in the bill.  Within titles, highlighted sections were chosen based on their fiscal, energy, or environmental impacts.  Documents posted in Word contain hyperlinks that were functioning at the time of posting.  To access them, open the documents while on-line. 

IV.  Commentary & Satire

1. Durante way off base in support for HR 6.  Critique of piece supporting passage of HR 6 written by Doug Durante, Executive Director of Clean Fuels Development Coalition in the Washington Times, Dec. 15, 2003.  Addresses many of the complexities of subsidizing ethanol and other biomass fuels that are produced in unsustainable ways.
2. "Call me Mr. Jobs," a satirical look at what Senator Domenici might really have been thinking with regards to jobs creation and the energy bill.  See Domenici's original press release here.

V.  Other Information on the Energy Policy Act:

1. Copies of the actual text of the proposed legislation may be accessed via the Senate Energy Committee.  The most recent version of the proposed comprensive legislation (released 2/13/04) is now on the web. The JOBS bill containing the energy tax title is available at the Senate Finance Committee.
2. Commentary on provisions in the legislation by US Pirg , Friends of the Earth, and Taxpayers for Common Sense.
3. Official government estimates of the budget effects of the tax provisions (Title XIII) of "The Energy Tax Policy Act of 2003" prepared by the Joint Committee on Taxation.  Scoring of the legislation by the Congressional Budget Office can also be found here.