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BCSE Quarterly Connection: Spring 2020
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The President's View:
BCSE’s Role During COVID-19
After eight weeks of remote work, BCSE’s role in the COVID-19 response and recovery is crystallizing.
The past month has been a period of uncertainty and information gathering. The BCSE’s immediate priorities were to understand the needs of our members and industries and to connect with policymakers on what they were looking to accomplish.
The pieces are coming together, with data on energy job impacts being released for March as well as sector specific impacts being released from a number of BCSE members. What is clear is that energy is critical infrastructure and provides power to support our lifeline sectors – health care, buildings, manufacturing and transportation. While job losses have been reported and, construction in some parts of the country has been delayed, our energy system has ensured that communities can focus on the health crisis at hand.
As we move through this unprecedented period, we are connecting our members several times per week with key Congressional staff to stay apprised of the action and requests from legislators.
We are heartened to see this work appreciated by BCSE members as well as policymakers. Our Federal Policy Committee meetings are drawing nearly double normal participation. Legislative staff from leadership offices continue to offer their insights to our members and request information on industry needs. Our
COVID-19 Resources page includes summaries of our work and our members’ efforts, as well as public resources.
We are grateful to our members and partners for their tireless work in this time of crisis. All have shown leadership as participants in critical supply chains and essential workforces, going above and beyond to keep people safe in this time of crisis and forge a path beyond it.
In this newsletter we look back on easier times, as well as forward to the work ahead. To all of our friends and colleagues in the clean energy sectors, we hope that you are weathering this storm and we thank you for your work towards a sustainable future.
Sincerely,
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Lisa Jacobson
President, Business Council for Sustainable Energy
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Powering Forward:
A New Webinar Series
Powering Forward is a new webinar series from BCSE and CEBN that examines developments across the clean energy economy in the U.S. This series will explore the unique impacts facing clean energy industries during the COVID-19 pandemic and the vital role of our sectors in the economy’s recovery. Each episode is produced collaboratively with partners working to advance clean energy, demonstrating that together we can power forward through this crisis to emerge as a stronger, more resilient America.
The next installment in the series,
“The Clean Energy Economy: A Decade of Growth, A First Quarter in Crisis” will feature Ethan Zindler, Head of Americas for BloombergNEF and Phil Jordan, Vice President and Principal Researcher for BW Research.
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BCSE’s small business subsidiary, the Clean Energy Business Network, has compiled resources for business owners to access financial relief during COVID-19. CEBN will also be releasing its premium
Funding Database publicly during the crisis. The Funding Database collects state and federal grants and financing opportunities, and features business development resources.
The partnership between CEBN and BCSE continues to open doors and create opportunities for both organizations, as
CEBN celebrates its third anniversary with the BCSE. BCSE’s strength in advocacy is the diverse perspectives of our members; CEBN’s voice for small businesses expands the impact of the greater coalition.
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State-by-State Energy Factsheets and Database
BCSE has partnered with BloombergNEF on a State Energy Database, and CEBN will be releasing State Energy Factsheets based on the research. The Database catalogues electricity generation by source, renewable builds, efficiency spending over the years, and shows state rankings.
BCSE is planning to release the State energy database in early summer, as a tool for taking stock of regional clean energy progress. If you are interested in looking at the data ahead of the launch, please reach out to Julia Selker (
[email protected]).
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Highlights from Spring 2020
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Emily Duncan, National Grid Takes the Helm of BCSE Board
On March 10, Emily Duncan, Director of Federal Government Relations for National Grid US, was announced as BCSE’s new Chairman of the Board.
Mark Wagner, Board Chairman from 2012-2019, offered the comment:
“With Ms. Duncan’s leadership and the growing diversity and ambition of the BCSE membership, I have no doubt that the Council will continue to be a leader in national and international clean energy and climate policy.”
Jon Sohn, U.S. Director of Government Relations for
Capital Power, was announced as a new board member,
See our press release
here.
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Welcome to New BCSE Members
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American Public Gas Association
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Global Climate Associates
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Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) Headlines
2020 BCSE Clean Energy Forum
Just days before the COVID-19 crisis put a stop to business-as-usual, BCSE held its annual Clean Energy Forum on March 12. In her remarks, Senate Energy and Environment Committee Chairman Lisa Murkowski spoke about the American Energy Innovation Act and her mission to pass meaningful energy legislation this Congress. The meeting also featured Clinton Britt, Chief of Staff for Congressman Paul Tonko, as well as expert panels with BCSE members.
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The
BCSE blog
marks milestones, amplifies member news and serves as a platform for clean energy education. We welcome contributions from members and partners in the advancement of clean energy.
Recent posts include:
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2020 Sustainable Energy in America Factbook Released on February 13
The
Sustainable Energy in America Factbook
,
published by the BCSE and BloombergNEF, is one of the most anticipated and comprehensive data resources on the energy industry in the United States. The 2020 edition chronicled the progress made in the “Decade of Clean Energy” from 2010 – 2019, highlighting it as an era of economic growth, reduced CO2 emissions and falling energy costs for consumers.
See highlights from the national release
here
. Subsequent outreach efforts include briefings for EPA, Department of Energy, House Energy and Commerce Committee, National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners, and National Association of State Energy Officials.
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BCSE President Testifies Before House Small Business Committee on Energy Infrastructure
On February 27, BCSE President Lisa Jacobson
testified before the House Small Business Committee Subcommittee on Contracting and Infrastructure at their hearing on Moving America’s Infrastructure Forward. Her testimony addressed the upward trajectory of clean energy industries over the past 10 years, sharing the findings of the 2020
Factbook. She expressed the need for infrastructure funding and market structures that can facilitate the modernization and improved resilience of our infrastructure, including power grids and natural gas systems around the country.
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Federal Policy Committee:
Since mid-March, the Federal Policy Committee has been focused on better understanding and helping to inform the congressional response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The committee has received timely updates during our weekly Federal Policy Committee calls from senior legislative staff, including the offices of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) , Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY), and Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH).
BCSE has compiled legislative recommendations for COVID-19 response and economic recovery from BCSE members, as well as survey responses regarding the impacts of COVID-19 on BCSE businesses. The data and recommendations were shared selectively with congressional offices during some of the early phases of COVID-19 legislation. In addition, the Federal Policy Committee drew from this set of member recommendations to draft
a letter to the House Science Committee in response to their bipartisan request for input regarding potential response and recovery legislation within the Science Committee’s jurisdiction. We continue to refine the set of recommendations to parse them by committee, timing and other areas, so they can be shared as Congress moves forward with other potential phases of response and recovery legislation.
Congress has been moving forward on a parallel track with regular FY 2021 appropriations bills, and as BCSE was transitioning to a COVID-19 remote working arrangement, the Federal Policy Committee shared letters with all members of the House and Senate Appropriations Committees with clean energy funding requests for FY2021. BCSE has sent
letters regarding funding for the Departments of Agriculture, Energy, Homeland Security, State, and the Environmental Protection Agency.
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International Policy Committee:
The IPC is working with members to adapt its international advocacy, given the restrictions on travel and in-person meetings in order to prevent the spread of COVID-19. New channels of connection and communication are being explored. Both the mid-year and annual UN Climate Change Conference have been postponed, with the Bonn session delayed until October and COP 26, scheduled for November in Glasgow, moved to 2021. The Clean Energy Ministerial, to be held in Chile, has also been postponed from June to a later date.
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Clean Air and Climate Committee:
The committee released comments on the Center for Resource Solutions' proposed Green-e certification and standard program for Renewable Natural Gas (RNG),and continues to discuss the CLEAN Futures Act discussion draft to identify priority issues to share with congress as it works to update the proposal. Recent CACC guest speakers include senior staff from the House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis and
the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works Committee
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State and Regional Policy Committee:
Commissioner Jay Balasbas with the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission joined as a keynote speaker for the quarterly State and Regional Policy Committee meeting at the end of March. Commissioner Balasbas spoke about the utility commission’s role in the implementation of Washington State’s 100% Clean Electricity Standard, addressing topics such as the treatment of hydropower and renewable natural gas, system reliability, and the commission’s review of utility implementation plans. The State and Regional Policy Committee also reviewed Virginia’s newly passed Clean Energy Standard, various pieces of energy choice legislation being adopted or considered around the country, and other state policy updates.
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2020 Factbook Gains Attention as Data Resource and BCSE Comments on Federal Outlook
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Podcast Tour: Factbook Discussions Featured in Industry and Academic Circles
Upcoming episodes from the MIT Energy Initiative Podcast and the Norton Rose Fulbright Currents Podcast are soon to be released.
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