The White House
Office of the Press Secretary
For Immediate Release
August 30, 2012
Executive Order -- Accelerating Investment in Industrial Energy Efficiency
EXECUTIVE ORDER
ACCELERATING INVESTMENT IN INDUSTRIAL ENERGY EFFICIENCY
By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the
laws of the United States of America, and in order to promote American
manufacturing by helping to facilitate investments in energy efficiency
at industrial facilities, it is hereby ordered as follows:
Section 1. Policy. The industrial sector accounts for over 30
percent of all energy consumed in the United States, and, for many
manufacturers, energy costs affect overall competitiveness. While our
manufacturing facilities have made progress in becoming more energy
efficient over the past several decades, there is an opportunity to
accelerate and expand these efforts with investments to reduce energy
use through more efficient manufacturing processes and facilities and
the expanded use of combined heat and power (CHP). Instead of burning
fuel in an on site boiler to produce thermal energy and also purchasing
electricity from the grid, a manufacturing facility can use a CHP system
to provide both types of energy in one energy efficient step.
Accelerating these investments in our Nation's factories can improve the
competitiveness of United States manufacturing, lower energy costs,
free up future capital for businesses to invest, reduce air pollution,
and create jobs.
Despite these benefits, independent studies have pointed to
under-investment in industrial energy efficiency and CHP as a result of
numerous barriers. The Federal Government has limited but important
authorities to overcome these barriers, and our efforts to support
investment in industrial energy efficiency and CHP should involve
coordinated engagement with a broad set of stakeholders, including
States, manufacturers, utilities, and others. By working with all
stakeholders to address these barriers, we have an opportunity to save
industrial users tens of billions of dollars in energy costs over the
next decade.
There is no one size fits all solution for our manufacturers, so it is
imperative that we support these investments through a variety of
approaches, including encouraging private sector investment by setting
goals and highlighting the benefits of investment, improving
coordination at the Federal level, partnering with and supporting
States, and identifying investment models beneficial to the multiple
stakeholders involved.
To formalize and support the close interagency coordination that is
required to accelerate greater investment in industrial energy
efficiency and CHP, this order directs certain executive departments and
agencies to convene national and regional stakeholders to identify,
develop, and encourage the adoption of investment models and State best
practice policies for industrial energy efficiency and CHP; provide
technical assistance to States and manufacturers to encourage investment
in industrial energy efficiency and CHP; provide public information on
the benefits of investment in industrial energy efficiency and CHP; and
use existing Federal authorities, programs, and policies to support
investment in industrial energy efficiency and CHP.
Sec. 2. Encouraging Investment in Industrial Efficiency. The
Departments of Energy, Commerce, and Agriculture, and the Environmental
Protection Agency, in coordination with the National Economic Council,
the Domestic Policy Council, the Council on Environmental Quality, and
the Office of Science and Technology Policy, shall coordinate policies
to encourage investment in industrial efficiency in order to reduce
costs for industrial users, improve U.S. competitiveness, create jobs,
and reduce harmful air pollution. In doing so, they shall engage States,
industrial companies, utility companies, and other stakeholders to
accelerate this investment. Specifically, these agencies shall, as
appropriate and consistent with applicable law:
(a) coordinate and strongly encourage efforts to achieve a national
goal of deploying 40 gigawatts of new, cost effective industrial CHP in
the United States by the end of 2020;
(b) convene stakeholders, through a series of public workshops, to
develop and encourage the use of best practice State policies and
investment models that address the multiple barriers to investment in
industrial energy efficiency and CHP;
(c) utilize their respective relevant authorities and resources to
encourage investment in industrial energy efficiency and CHP, such as
by:
(i) providing assistance to States on accounting for the potential
emission reduction benefits of CHP and other energy efficiency policies
when developing State Implementation Plans (SIPs) to achieve national
ambient air quality standards;
(ii) providing incentives for the deployment of CHP and other types of
clean energy, such as set asides under emissions allowance trading
program state implementation plans, grants, and loans;
(iii) employing output based approaches as compliance options in power
and industrial sector regulations, as appropriate, to recognize the
emissions benefits of highly efficient energy generation technologies
like CHP; and
(iv) seeking to expand participation in and create additional tools to
support the Better Buildings, Better Plants program at the Department of
Energy, which is working with companies to help them achieve a goal of
reducing energy intensity by 25 percent over 10 years, as well as
utilizing existing partnership programs to support energy efficiency and
CHP;
(d) support and encourage efforts to accelerate investment in industrial energy efficiency and CHP by:
(i) providing general guidance, technical analysis and information, and
financial analysis on the value of investment in industrial energy
efficiency and CHP to States, utilities, and owners and operators of
industrial facilities;
(ii) improving the usefulness of Federal data collection and analysis; and
(iii) assisting States in developing and implementing State specific
best practice policies that can accelerate investment in industrial
energy efficiency and CHP.
In implementing this section, these agencies should consult with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, as appropriate.
Sec. 3. General Provisions. (a) Nothing in this order shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect:
(i) the authority granted by law to an executive department, agency, or the head thereof; or
(ii) the functions of the Director of the Office of Management and
Budget relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals.
(b) This order shall be implemented consistent with applicable law and subject to the availability of appropriations.
(c) This order is not intended to, and does not, create any right or
benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by
any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or
entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person.
BARACK OBAMA
THE WHITE HOUSE,
August 30, 2012.
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