Alternative Energy Policy Vacuum Takes Its Toll

The lack of a comprehensive national policy for alternative energy sources and alternative fuels continues to take its toll on the industry, and with Republican control of the House of Representatives, we can only look for more such disasters. On Wednesday, November 10, a brand new, 90% complete facility designed to annually produce 20 million gallons of fuel ethanol and 3.2 megawatts of electric power will go under the auctioneer’s gavel in Heyburn, Idaho. Owner of the new plant, Renova Energy of Idaho, LLC, filed chapter 11 bankruptcy last year, after halting construction, with the factory more than 90% complete, in 2008. Construction started in 2007.

The facility will be sold as is and in place, or if that does not succeed, equipment and structures will be auctioned off piece by piece. Renova’s plant would have been only the second ethanol facility in the State of Idaho. With very little prospect of Congressional action on national energy policy legislation any time soon, given the outcome of this week’s elections, it seems unlikely a buyer willing to complete construction and put the Renova factory into operation will come forward.

Unfinished Business In Congress

The Republican sweep to power in the House virtually assures that the unfinished business on the Obama administration agenda will not be finished any time soon. Most important to the construction industry is reauthorization of the federal highway trust fund, which Congress could not accomplish while both houses were under Democrat control. Now, unless the lame ducks get their tails in gear and pass a six year $500 billion reauthorization before Republicans take over in the House, it seems unlikely that anything good will come out of the next Congress for the construction industry.

Other construction related legislation likely to languish under Republican House leadership includes the Clean Energy and Security Act – also known as cap and trade, a public option for health insurance, the DREAM comprehensive immigration reform bill, and two bills designed to redirect unused TARP funds to infrastructure building: the Jobs for Main Street Act and the Small Business and Infrastructure Jobs Act. Any second infusion of federal stimulus dollars into the construction industry seems completely imaginary now.

Washington State Legislature Mandates Energy Efficiency

Both houses of the legislature in Washington have now passed slightly different bills mandating improvements in the energy efficiency of new buildings built in the state. The bill passed through the Washington Senate last week requires a net reduction by 40% as soon as 2013, and by a total of 70% by the year 2031. Observers expect the legislators to reconcile the two versions very soon and send a final bill to the governor within a few weeks.

No one has said how the architects, engineers and contractors in the State of Washington are supposed to accomplish this dramatic reduction in building energy consumption. The Senate version of the new law would require power companies to track energy use of existing large commercial and public buildings.