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Arlington, Va. — April 20, 2016 — The U.S. Senate on Wednesday, April 20, passed the Energy Policy Modernization Act by a vote of 85-12. The vote comes four months after a Dec. 3, 2015, vote in the U.S. House of Representatives on its comprehensive energy legislation, the North American Energy Security and Infrastructure Act.
“Passage of this legislation shows that improving the energy efficiency of our nation’s homes, schools, and other buildings as well as moving toward a more flexible, resilient, and secure electric grid are citizen issues that should, and in this case did, rise above partisan paralysis,” said Kevin J. Cosgriff, president and CEO Of the National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA). "We thank Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Chairman Lisa Murkowski (R-Ark.) and ranking member Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) for their continued leadership as advocates for energy efficiency, grid modernization, and the electrical manufacturing industry.”
If enacted into law, the Energy Policy Modernization Act will increase the adoption of energy-efficient technologies in homes, schools, commercial buildings, and federal facilities. The bill contains provisions that would catalyze much-needed improvements to the U.S. electric infrastructure, including transmission, distribution, and energy storage systems. A full list of NEMA-supported sections of the bill is available on the NEMA Currents Blog.
During Senate debate, a NEMA-backed amendment was agreed to that removes solid-state lighting drivers from the scope of a Department of Energy (DOE) rule establishing efficiency standards for external power supplies.
The Senate and House must now reconcile differences between their two bills before passing final legislation to send to President Obama for his signature. NEMA will be working to ensure that lawmakers include industry priorities in the final bill.
NEMA represents nearly 400 electrical, medical imaging manufacturers at the forefront of electrical safety, reliability, resilience, efficiency, and energy security. For more information, visit www.NEMA.org.
