May 14, 2012

National Association of Manufacturers Support Shaheen-Portman Energy Efficiency Legislation

(WASHINGTON, D.C.) – The National Association of Manufacturers (NAM), the largest industrial trade association in the U.S., representing over 13,000 small, medium and large manufacturers, is supporting the Energy Savings and Industrial Competitiveness Act (S. 1000), authored by U.S. Senators Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) and  Rob Portman (R-OH). The Shaheen-Portman bill would establish a national energy efficiency strategy to increase the use of existing energy efficiency technologies in the residential, commercial, and industrial sectors of our economy.

“S. 1000 is incentive-based, mandate-free legislation that enjoys broad support in the Senate and in the business community,” said Ross Eisenberg, NAM’s Vice President, Energy and Resources Policy in a letter to Shaheen and Portman. “This bipartisan legislation would positively impact manufacturing and construction jobs and increase the energy security of the United States by reducing overall energy consumption and I am hopeful it will soon be considered by the full Senate.”

“Technologies produced by U.S. companies that reduce energy consumption are readily available today, and S. 1000 reduces barriers to their implementation,” he added.

Introduced last May, the legislation has garnered national support from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and nearly 150 businesses, trade associations, and efficiency advocates. 

Last July, S. 1000 passed the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee with strong bipartisan support by a vote of 18 to 3.  Representatives Charles Bass (R-New Hampshire) and Jim Matheson (D-Utah) recently introduced similar legislation, the Smart Energy Act, in the House of Representatives.

GE Energy Helps Launch New U.S. Industrial Energy Efficiency Coalition

19 March 2012

GE Energy Helps Launch New U.S. Industrial Energy Efficiency Coalition

 

• GE Energy’s Industrial Solutions Business Joins IEEC to Advocate for Policies that Boost Industrial Energy Efficiency, Productivity
• IEEC Leveraging Industrial Controls and Automation Expertise of GE and Other Charter Members
• Alliance to Promote Solutions to Help U.S. Manufacturers Reduce Energy Usage 25 to 30 Percent

PLAINVILLE, Conn. — March 19, 2012 — GE Energy’s (NYSE: GE) Industrial Solutions business has joined the new Industrial Energy Efficiency Coalition (IEEC) as a founding member. The IEEC is a unique alliance of industrial controls and automation suppliers advocating for new federal policies that encourage manufacturers to implement energy efficiency strategies to boost their productivity and sustainability.

With U.S. industries consuming one third of the country’s energy, the industrial sector has a significant opportunity to achieve substantial energy savings of 25 to 30 percent over the next 25 years by installing new controls and automation technologies. However, current government policies and investments are failing to adequately address these potential energy saving opportunities.

The IEEC was established to leverage its members’ collective expertise in controls and automation to promote processes, best practices, technologies and standards to help ensure the most efficient use of electrical energy by the U.S. industrial sector.

“We are proud to unite with other industry leaders in helping the IEEC advocate for new policies and programs that encourage greater investment in industrial energy management and services,” said Sergio Corbo, chief marketing officer for GE Energy’s Industrial Solutions business. “This will dramatically increase energy efficiency and plant modernization throughout the country’s industrial ecosystems.”

The IEEC is administered by NEMA the association of electrical equipment and medical imaging manufacturers. In addition to GE, other charter members of the consortium include ABB, Eaton, Rockwell Automation, Schneider Electric, and Siemens. Together, these founding members supply an estimated 75 percent of the industrial controls purchased by U.S. companies.

Leading the future of electrification around the globe, GE Energy's Industrial Solutions business forges strong relationships with customers, identifies and solves challenges and invests in innovative technologies that help create a cleaner, smarter and more efficient electrical infrastructure. Operating in more than 60 countries, GE’s dedicated teams from electrical distribution, industrial services and power electronics manufacture and service products for residential, commercial and industrial applications.

About GE

GE (NYSE: GE) works on things that matter. The best people and the best technologies taking on the toughest challenges. Finding solutions in energy, health and home, transportation and finance. Building, powering, moving and curing the world. Not just imagining. Doing. GE works. For more information, visit the company's website at www.ge.com.

GE Energy works connecting people and ideas everywhere to create advanced technologies for powering a cleaner, more productive world. With more than 100,000 employees in over 100 countries, our diverse portfolio of product and service solutions and deep industry expertise help our customers solve their challenges locally. We serve the energy sector with technologies in such areas as natural gas, oil, coal and nuclear energy; wind, solar, biogas and water processing; energy management; and grid modernization. We also offer integrated solutions to serve energy and water-intensive industries such as mining, metals, marine, petrochemical, food and beverage and unconventional fuels.

Follow GE Energy on Twitter @GE_Energy.

New Video on Electric Vehicles

News release from the U.S. Dept. of Energy:

DOE Releases New Video on Electric Vehicles, Highlights Administration Support for U.S. Auto Industry in Detroit Economic Club Speech

January 9, 2012 

  

Washington D.C. - U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu will travel to Detroit, Mich., this week to highlight the Obama Administration’s support for the American automobile industry and the role investing in innovation will play in keeping U.S. workers and companies competitive.  Last year, after seven straight years of decline, American auto manufacturers rebounded thanks in part to support from the Administration.

Today, the Department of Energy also released a new video, “Energy 101: Electric Vehicles”, which highlights the benefits of electric vehicles, including improved fuel efficiency, reduced emissions, and lower maintenance costs. To view the video, visit http://youtu.be/M69GBL0IDzI?hd=1.

All next week, the Department of Energy will be highlighting its investment in the American auto industry.  On Tuesday, January 10, Secretary Chu will tour the North American International Auto Show before giving a major address at a Detroit Economic Club breakfast on Wednesday, January 11.

Also on Wednesday, Secretary Chu will join Congressman Hansen Clarke for a tour of robotics, chemistry and physics classrooms and labs at Detroit’s Cass Technical High School, where they will meet with students involved in STEM education programs at Cass Tech, Detroit’s Davis Aerospace High School and the Detroit International Academy.

U.S. Companies File Complaint Over China’s Steel Subsidies

The following was gleaned from an article in today's New York Times.  Those counting on a lot of new Green jobs in a new Green economy may want to take note.  Many of those Green jobs are not ending up in the U.S.

The New York Times

Friday, December 30, 2011

U.S. Companies File Complaint Over China’s Steel Subsidies

WASHINGTON — Four domestic companies that make most of the steel towers for wind turbines in the United States filed a trade complaint against China and Vietnam on Thursday, seeking tariffs in the range of 60 percent.

The allegations are much like the ones that solar panel manufacturers made in a similar case filed against Chinese manufacturers in October, namely that government subsidies were allowing foreign manufacturers to sell below cost in the United States, damaging the domestic industry.

The American wind industry is also subsidized, mostly through a production tax credit, but by all accounts the scale of Chinese subsidies is far larger.

The companies bringing the complaint buy high-quality plate steel and cut it so that it forms a slightly conical shape when it is rolled into a cylinder. They weld the long seam in the rolled structures, called cans, and then stack the cans to form taller units, each with a flange at top and bottom. The units are shipped to wind farms where they are bolted together to form a tower. Towers can reach 300 feet and weigh 350 tons, and the largest ones sell in the range of $600,000, a price largely determined by the price of steel.

The industry installed about 2,900 towers in 2010 and probably more in 2011.

Imports of towers from Vietnam and China roughly doubled in 2011, according to Alan H. Price, a lawyer at the firm that filed the case, Wiley Rein, which also filed the solar panel case. At one of the companies he represents, Katana Summit, an executive said that imports had been taking market share for the last several years and now had about half the market.

The complaint seeks duties of more than 64 percent on Chinese imports, and more than 59 percent for Vietnamese imports.

The case was filed by the Wind Tower Trade Coalition — comprising Trinity Structural Towers, DMI Industries, Katana Summit and Broadwind Energy — at the Commerce Department, which has 20 days to decide whether to initiate an investigation. In addition, another government agency, the International Trade Commission, will hold a hearing in about three weeks to decide whether there is reasonable indication that the domestic industry is suffering from the imports or is under threat from them. It should reach a preliminary determination in 45 days. If the commission says there is an indication of a threat, the Commerce Department would reach a preliminary determination within six months on whether the two countries are guilty of dumping. At that point, duties could be imposed.

A final determination would take about a year, if the wind coalition wins all the earlier rounds.

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