What’s Really Inside the Senate’s New Bill to ‘Modernize’ the Energy System

On Thursday afternoon, the Senate’s energy committee sent the first wide-ranging energy bill in over six years to the senate floor, but not before weighing it down with an array of provisions that ensure opposition from many environmentalist groups.  The bill, as well as any amendments Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell consents to, could receive votes after the August summer recess.

The main piece of legislation, the “Energy Policy and Modernization Act of 2015,” does not directly address wind and solar energy, sources that comprise the epitome of “modern” energy — over half of new generating capacity came from wind and solar in the first half of 2015.  The bill instead focuses on fossil fuels and infrastructure: natural gas pipeline permitting, authorizing the main federal conservation fund, job training, updating the grid, as well as a push on energy efficiency. The Energy and Natural Resources Committee passed it with an 18-4 vote and many statements of good faith from Democrats and Republicans. Sens. Jeff Flake (R-AZ), Mike Lee (R-UT), Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) and Bernie Sanders (I-VT) were the four to vote against it.

With the congressional August recess looming after next week, and an incredibly busy legislative fall greeting Congress when it returns, this bill is also expected to be on the docket — though with less of a profile than the Iran nuclear deal, Planned Parenthood funding, the anticipated final carbon rule from the EPA, and other fights on the budget. With so much yet to be decided, it’s not out of the realm of possibility that the Republican Congress’ fight with President Obama could lead to another government shutdown.

Still, the energy bill served as a proxy for many of the senators on the committee to engage in some old-fashioned bipartisan legislating. Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), who chairs the committee, called the successful effort to pass a bipartisan bill on to the full Senate an “impressive journey,” where “no one’s getting everything they want, for sure.”

The committee’s top Democrat, Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-WA), said it was “the first step in the long but important journey” to work on significant energy legislation. Cantwell’s approach has been to deal with “essential” updates to national energy policy to prevent things like blackouts and update the grid to be able to handle more renewable energy sources, while addressing more controversial subjects later.

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