Democrat Clean Energy Program Doesn’t Include Natural Gas

A fact sheet released by the Democrats on the Energy and Commerce Committee on Thursday included a plan to pay electric utilities to generate more power from clean sources.

But that plan, dubbed the Clean Electricity Payment Program, won’t include electricity sourced from natural gas—a far cleaner alternative to coal or even crude oil.

Natural gas won’t be included in that 80%, because according to the fact sheet, the law spells out a .10 metric tons of Co2e per MWh rate in order to qualify for the subsidies—a level that is so low that utilities couldn’t even hope to achieve it through natural gas sources.

The program would give the grants to electricity providers who increase the amount of energy from clean sources by 4% from the previous year.

But it’s not just about carrots.

Conversely, the stick in this scenario is that electricity providers who fail to ratchet up clean energy by 4% in a given year will owe the Energy Department some money.

The goal of what would be a $150 billion program is to have 80% of all power generated in the United States come from “clean power” by 2030. The Democrats hope to include the payment program in the $3.5 trillion spending bill.

Natural gas won’t be included in that 80%, because according to the fact sheet, the law spells out a .10 metric tons of Co2e per MWh rate in order to qualify for the subsidies—a level that is so low that utilities couldn’t even hope to achieve it through natural gas sources.

The program would give the grants to electricity providers who increase the amount of energy from clean sources by 4% from the previous year.

But it’s not just about carrots.

Conversely, the stick in this scenario is that electricity providers who fail to ratchet up clean energy by 4% in a given year will owe the Energy Department some money.

The program would start in 2023 and run to 2030.

Natural gas sourced 40% of all 4.12 trillion kilowatt hours of electricity generation in the United States last year, according to the Energy Information Administration, with coal-fired electricity accounting for 19%. Nuclear and renewables accounted for 20% each.

The program is a critical part of the budget reconciliation bill.

By Julianne Geiger for Oilprice.com

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