Climate Legislation Talking Points

While the climate change legislation in the U.S. Congress appears to currently be upstaged by the health care debate, it is the intent of the Senate majority to have a climate change package in the Senate for consideration by late fall. That being said, NRECA (National Rural Electric Cooperative Association) and its lobbying corps have laid out specific items they need to have included in the package for them and the over 900 electric cooperatives to support.

As it stands today, there is no Senate version of a climate change bill like the House has already passed; and the ramifications of the House bill are steep. However, it is NRECA’s belief that if the following 6 points are included in the final bill, the impact on rate-payers of electricity and all types of fuels can be reduced significantly.

1. Achievable emission caps and timelines

a. Targets during the first 15 years of a climate program should reflect the expected availability of technology.

b. Legislation should also allow sufficient time for the EPA, other agencies, and covered sectors to establish regulations and prepare for the implementation of the program.

2. Protection of electricity consumers by allocating allowances to local distribution companies (Delaware Electric Coop) based on carbon content of fuel mix.

a. The most efficient method of minimizing the costs of a carbon reduction program to our electric consumers is to freely allocate allowances to local distribution companies on the basis of emissions.

b. A program design that requires cooperatives to purchase allowances will raise costs to our consumer-members for compliance, redirecting funds that they could have otherwise invested in low-carbon technologies.

c. Allocating allowances based solely upon the carbon content of the fuel mix recognizes regional differences in generation and will ensure fairness and affordable electricity for all American consumers.

3. Robust cost containment measures to promote economic sustainability.

a. The best method of assuring cost certainty is the inclusion of an economic safety valve.

b. A safety valve limits the potentially destabilizing impacts of a cap-and-trade program on energy prices and ensures affordability of electricity to our member-consumers.

4. Offset credits to provide flexibility.

a. The inclusion of workable domestic and international offset credit programs will provide covered sectors flexibility in planning cost-effective investments in low-carbon technologies and reduce costs to consumers.

b. Workable domestic and international offset programs are critical to protecting consumers, particularly in the early years of a climate program.

5. Establish a single, integrated program.

a. Climate change legislation should establish a single, organic new law that establishes the sole legal and regulatory requirements for reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

6. Technology Development and Deployment Incentives

a. To make greenhouse gas reduction requirements achievable, we will need new, cost-effective technologies to reduce emissions.

b. Including significant incentives for new technologies (including carbon capture and sequestration, plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, renewable and nuclear power, etc) will be critical to the sustainability of any new legislation and the achievability of the emissions reductions.

We all want a clean environment and a sustainable answer for our energy future. However, we must have solutions that are affordable, workable and technologically achievable. Without those requirements Congress will negatively impact our already fragile economy and saddle American families with even more hardship in these uncertain economic times. Your participation in this debate is the key to the outcome. Your elected officials need to hear these points from you.

Senators Tom Carper and Ted Kaufman can be reached by phone toll-free at 1-877-40-225-2623. You can also visit www.findabalancedsolution.org for additional information. Let them know for the Senate’s energy legislation we need:

1. Achievable emission caps and timelines

2. Protection of electricity consumers by allocating allowances to local distribution companies (Delaware Electric Coop) based on carbon content of fuel mix.

3. Robust cost containment measures to promote economic sustainability.

4. Offset credits to provide flexibility.

5. Establish a single, integrated program.

6. Technology Development and Deployment Incentives

Thank you for helping us “Keep the Lights On.”