Senate Democrats preparing energy bill, potential counter to bipartisan efforts

Dive Brief:

Democrats in the U.S. Senate, apparently not satisfied with bipartisan efforts at developing energy legislation, are preparing a package of their own which could include tax credits for renewable resources.
The bill would be based around principles Democrats inked just nine days ago in a letter to all 50 governors, E&E Daily notes, in which they outlined ideas for national energy investments including modernizing the grid and empowering consumers.
But any proposal will be matched up against a bipartisan effort being led by Sen. Lisa Murkowski, (R-AK) who is trying to bring a bill to the table before August recesss.

Dive Insight:

Senate Democrats pushing for greater investment in clean technologies and modernizing the grid are apparently unhappy with progress being made on a bipartisan bill, and E&E Daily reports they are aiming to have a bill out before August – largely the same timeline Murkowski's office is shooting for.

In a letter last week to all 50 state governors, 45 senators outlined principles for investing in the United States' energy grid including: more clean energy; empowering consumers; modernizing infrastructure; cutting carbon pollution and waste; and investing in research and development.

“The need for clean, reliable and efficient supplies of energy is becoming closely intertwined with our economic growth and global competitiveness. In fact, investing in clean energy technology has created hundreds of thousands of new jobs,” Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-WA) and the ranking member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, said in a statement accompanying the letter. “We need to keep investing in cleaner, lower-cost energy solutions so that America won't be left behind.”

While the letter not does specifically mention tax credits, a spokesperson for Cantwell told E&E that the bill would probably include “a meaningful extension of energy tax credits for low-carbon technologies, as well as other policy and infrastructure matters of interest.”

Murkowski's office declined to comment on the Democratic bill, but indicated the bipartisan process is still ongoing. In May, Murkowski introduced 17 bills in one day on a range of topics including interconnecting distributed resources, transmission permitting and natural gas.