On April 18, U.S. Sens. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., and Rob Portman, R-Ohio, introduced S 761, the Energy Savings and Industrial Competitiveness Act of 2013 (ESIC). At the same time, U.S. Reps. David McKinley, R-W.Va., and Peter Welch, D-Vt., introduced the companion bill, HR 1616.
The legislative measures are slimmed-down versions of S 1000, the energy-efficiency bill first introduced by Shaheen and Portman in 2011. The updated language makes some concessions, including decreasing the amount of federal loan guarantees, in hopes of gaining the support needed to implement the bill as law.