April 1, 2021 – The National Association of Energy Service Companies (NAESCO) commends President Joe Biden for yesterday introducing The American Jobs Plan, which outlines the Biden-Harris administration’s remarkably ambitious, $2.3 trillion, 8-year vision for investing in the modernization of U.S. infrastructure.
“The maintenance backlogs weighing on the country’s transportation, energy, telecommunications and commercial and residential building infrastructure are untenable,” said NAESCO Executive Director Dr. Timothy D. Unruh in a statement, “and they present unnecessary, preventable restrictions on economic functionality and growth, public health and safety and general social wellbeing.”
“But President Biden’s unveiling yesterday of his plan to address these challenges suggests these backlogs may soon be eliminated, especially as similar efforts to mobilize historic investment in our nation’s infrastructure continue to gain traction in Congress.”
“In just the last few weeks, legislators on Capitol Hill have introduced the CLEAN Future Act and LIFT America Act, both of which include sweeping proposals to bring U.S. infrastructure into the 21st century by decarbonizing the U.S. electricity sector and deploying significant expansions in broadband infrastructure, suggest Biden’s plans have some considerable momentum to take advantage of.”
“That is why NAESCO urges the Biden-Harris administration to work in close collaboration with Congress to more aggressively leverage private financing to deliver the kind of job-creating, emissions-reducing, performance-enhancing infrastructure legislation the country needs to weather the ongoing public health crisis and resume its path towards prosperity. To do so, policymakers must expand funding for public facility renewal and energy performance enhancement programs that leverage public-private partnerships to deliver greenhouse gas emissions reductions and energy cost savings. Specifically, NAESCO recommends President Biden coordinate with Congress to mobilize funds towards long successful, politically popular programs, including the State Energy Program (SEP) and Federal Energy Management Program’s AFFECT Program, and otherwise incentivize the use of energy savings performance contracts (ESPCs) among public and private sector facility managers to deliver energy efficiency enhancements nationwide.”
These are the central provisions of the Open Back Better Act of 2021, and they reflect many of the same objectives as the recently introduced Federal Building Clean Jobs Act – both public infrastructure renewal packages with broad political appeal.”
###
About NAESCO
The National Association of Energy Service Companies (NAESCO) is the leading advocacy and accreditation organization for Energy Service Companies (ESCOs) and is dedicated to modernizing America’s building infrastructure through performance contracting. Uniting the energy service industry, NAESCO promotes favorable government policies; sponsors a rigorous accreditation program; provides training and education; and champions the interests of ESCOs across the nation.
ESCOs contract with private and public sector energy users to provide cost-effective energy efficiency retrofits across a wide spectrum of client facilities, from college campuses to water treatment plants. Effectively utilizing a performance-based contract business model, ESCOs have implemented more than $50 billion in comprehensive energy efficiency retrofit projects over the last three decades.
Learn more about NAESCO, its members, membership benefits and accreditation process at www.naesco.org, and follow NAESCO on Twitter (@NaescoNews) and LinkedIn (@naesco).
