Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) cosponsored bipartisan legislation on Friday that would take steps to increase energy efficiency, reduce pollution, save consumers money and create jobs.
An updated version of the Shaheen-Portman Energy Savings and Industrial Competitiveness Act includes provisions authored by Collins. The measures would require the Department of Energy to coordinate and provide technical assistance to support energy-efficient retrofits and renewable energy installations in schools.
“Our bipartisan bill address our nation’s over-reliance on fossil fuels while also opening the door to vibrant economic growth,” Collins said. “Energy efficient investments will not only help conservation efforts, but it will also help save money and create jobs.”
The bill would establish a demonstration program within the Department of Housing and Urban Development that uses energy savings contracts to perform efficiency retrofits on low-income housing.
The deficit-neutral bill would also incentivize efficiency technologies that are commercially available and use a variety of low-cost tools to help the federal government, which is the nation’s largest energy user, become more energy efficient.
The measure would create more than 190,000 jobs, save consumers $16.2 billion per year and reduce air pollution by the equivalent of removing 22 million cars from the road by 2030, according to the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy.