American Forest & Paper Association President & CEO Donna Harman expressed disappointment with the energy package passed by the U.S. House of Representatives last night. H.R. 6899 contains a flawed renewable energy portfolio standard (RPS) that will distort energy markets, increase energy prices, and ignores the contributions that existing renewable power generators are making to help improve energy independence and combat climate change.
“This bill misses the mark because it unavoidably leads to higher energy costs for businesses and consumers. At a time of economic uncertainty we need good answers on energy and this bill only leaves people with more questions.
“The forest products industry is the largest industrial producer of renewable energy in the country, generating more than 60 percent of pulp and paper mills’ total energy demand from biomass. Still, purchased energy such as natural gas and electricity remains our third largest manufacturing cost and since 2000 the burden of high energy prices has been a factor in the shuttering of 267 mills and the loss of 189,000 jobs in our industry. This bill’s federal RPS would exacerbate these problems by setting an unreasonable mandate on utilities. They will only wind up passing on new, higher costs to their rate payers.
Furthermore, under the legislation, the renewable power generated at existing forest products facilities would not qualify for renewable energy credits in the same manner as new facilities. Any RPS that provides incentives for new power generation and disadvantages existing generation creates economic distortion. It also disregards the 33 states that have already adopted RPS mandates or goals in response to their unique circumstances. The one-size-fits-all approach offered by H.R. 6899 would ignore these critical state and local factors.
“We look forward to working with Congress to create a truly comprehensive energy policy that meets the needs of businesses and consumers in a sustainable way.
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