What Lame Ducks May Do for Power

Congress started lame-duck sessions this week, will take next week off for Thanksgiving and reconvene on Nov. 29. The final date of adjournment will be determined by how much Majority Leader Harry Reid and Speaker Nancy Pelosi attempt to accomplish, and how willing Republicans are to pass legislation.

What is expected to happen during lame-duck that will leave its mark on energy? The renewable electricity standard (RES), which was originally included in the broad energy bill that passed out of the Energy Committee last summer, was once believed to become part of the Senate climate bill this year. But when those talks failed last summer, Energy and Natural Resources Chairman Jeff Bingaman and Kansas GOP Sen. Sam Brownback introduced the RES measure as a stand-alone bill. Since then, they have been working to obtain the 60 votes needed to move it to the floor. So far, 31 additional co-sponsors have signed on.

Even if Bingaman and Brownback find 60 supporters, politics of the lame-duck legislative session may keep the measure off the floor. “We do know energy does not top the to-do list,” Bingaman spokesman Bill Wicker told The New York Times.

Of course the renewable energy industry holds on to the hope that the Treasury Grant Program (1603) will be extended beyond Dec. 31, 2010 and that the extension will be established during lame duck. An Oct. 25 memo from White House climate adviser Carol Browner, National Economic Council Director Larry Summers and Vice President Joe Biden’s chief of staff Ron Klain suggests that stimulus money for the renewable energy loan guarantee program be moved into the 1603 program.

“A 2-year extension of the 1603 grant program through the sunset of the associated tax credits has a $2.5 billion tax score. The Administration could work with Congress during the lame duck on the tax extenders bill to reprogram the 1705 funds to pay for the 1603 extensions” or other “clean energy priorities,” the memo said.

But does taking away from the renewable energy loan guarantee program and moving it into 1603 funding equate to taking a cookie away from a child and giving him a Snickers bar instead? Is “musical chairs” funding the answer? Or will the renewable energy industry develop best when faced with consistency in terms of government funding and incentives?

What happens during lame duck in the next two weeks could change things for the power industry, but mostly in moderation.