Efficiency First

Several senators are attempting to revive the Department of Energy’s Clean Energy Deployment Administration (CEDA), which would enable the DOE to finance more clean energy technologies and projects. However, the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee faces difficulties over securing sources of funding for the upfront costs. Debates over spending cuts and the federal deficit have hindered the effort to bolster CEDA, and clean energy legislation on the whole has faced opposition from the Republican-dominated House.

In recent years, the U.S. has made significant progress towards energy efficiency and the use of renewable energy rather than fossil fuels, but the energy efficiency industry has not completely penetrated the commercial market. If Congress backed CEDA, private funding of clean energy ventures would receive more secure long-term financing options, rather than one-time government loans. Senator Lisa Murkowski (R–Alaska), a member of the SENR Committee, noted that CEDA is a “smarter, more efficient way for the federal government to promote clean energy technologies.”

CEDA would make capital investments for clean energy more transparent and government funding through the administration would allow for more energy efficiency projects that would otherwise be too risky for private investors. The Department of Energy is scheduled to receive a 12% budget increase for 2012 compared to the fiscal year 2010, but partisan debate over the nation’s energy priorities within Congress continues to obstruct energy efficiency efforts.