PENDING LEGISLATION
H.R. 4 - The Energy Policy Act of 2002 (House Republican version).
S. 517 - The Energy Policy Act of 2002 (The Daschle-Bingaman version).

ASCE POLICY STATEMENTS
ASCE Policy Statement 144, Energy Policy
ASCE Policy Statement 342, Arctic National Wildlife Refuge
ASCE Policy Statement 379, Hydropower Licensing
ASCE Policy Statement 442,The Advanced Hydro Turbine
ASCE Policy Statement 484, Generation and Transmission Capacity
ASCE Policy Statement 487, Building and Consumer-Product Energy Efficiency
ASCE Policy Statement 489, Clean Energy
ASCE Policy Statement 490, Nuclear Power

STATUS
The House passed its comprehensive energy bill in August 2001. The Senate passed the Daschle-Bingaman bill in April 2002. The conference, which is expected to be lengthy and complex, began in late June 2002.

Both bills include billions in tax incentives for energy industries, with the House version ($34 billion) more than doubling the Senate tax proposal of $14.5 billion.

The House bill would open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil and gas exploration. The Senate bill has no provision on ANWR. The Senate bill provides $1.9 billion in tax breaks for coal companies to develop "clean coal" technologies. The House bill offers $3.3 billion in tax breaks for "clean coal."

Unlike the House bill, the Senate version includes a renewable electricity mandate and electricity restructuring provisions, but does not address -- as the House does -- Corporate Average Fuel Economy standards.

BACKGROUND
Although growth in electricity demand from 1999 to 2020 is projected to be slower than in the past, 393 gigawatts of new generating capacity (excluding cogenerators) is expected to be needed by 2020 to meet growing demand and to replace retiring units. Between 1999 and 2020, 26 gigawatts (27 percent) of current nuclear capacity and 43 gigawatts (eight percent) of current fossil-fueled capacity are expected to be retired.

Of the 162 gigawatts of new capacity expected after 2010, 16 percent will replace retired nuclear capacity. About 1,300 new power plants could be needed by 2020, according to the Energy Information Administration of the U.S. Department of Energy.

In 1990, the North American Electric Reliability Council (NERC) estimated that national demand for electric power would grow about 1.8 percent annually; the actual rate has been between two percent and three percent, according to the Edison Electric Institute (EEI). Some parts of the country are growing faster.

Similarly, the demand for natural gas is growing sharply. Annual U.S. gas consumption could increase by 60% over the next 20 years. The current estimate of the natural gas resource base in the 48 states, based on current technology and economics, is equivalent to at least 65 to 70 years of supply at the current level of consumption, according to the American Gas Association (AGA).