A NATIONAL AGENDA FOR CHP

The CHP Challenge

In 1998, then DOE Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Dan Reicher, challenged the combined heat and power industry, including the USCHPA, to double the amount of combined heat and power deployed in the U.S. by 2010.  "Other goals will call attention to the role of combined heat and power in reducing air pollution by 40 million metric tons of carbon -- the equivalent of eliminating 40 million cars from U.S. roadways -- and helping to improve local economic development," said Mr. Reicher. 

To help accomplish this, DOE's CHP Program (formerly CHP Challenge program) works to eliminate barriers that discourage adoption of combined heat and power technologies and systems.  The EPA CHP Partnership Program works closely with the CHP industry, state and local governments, and other stakeholders to develop tools and services to support the development of new CHP projects and promote their energy, environmental, and economic benefits. Members of Congress and representatives have also proclaimed their support for combined heat and power and promised to work with the USCHPA, DOE, and EPA.

Former President Bill Clinton, in his address to the nation on climate change in 1997, cited combined heat and power as one of the cost-effective ways to reduce carbon emissions. The administration proposed a 10 percent tax credit for new combined heat and power systems. Studies underway by government and public interest researchers suggest that there are thousands of sites in industrial, commercial, and community settings in the U.S. that could benefit from CHP. It is estimated that more than 50 gigawatts of combined heat and power capacity could be installed by 2010, with the resulting reductions in carbon dioxide emissions totaling more than 10 percent of the U.S. target set forth in Kyoto Protocol on climate change.

The Current Administration

In 2001, President George W. Bush announced his National Energy Policy at a Minnesota district energy facility using CHP. The National Energy Plan contained many CHP Policy Recommendations including:

• The NEPD Group recommends that the President direct the Secretary of the Treasury to work with Congress to encourage increased energy efficiency through combined heat and power (CHP) projects by shortening the depreciation life for CHP projects or providing an investment tax credit.
• The NEPD Group recommends that the President direct the EPA Administrator to promote CHP through flexibility in environmental permitting
• The NEPD Group recommends that the President direct the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to issue guidance to encourage the development of well-designed combined heat and power (CHP) units that are both highly efficient and have low emissions. The goal of this guidance would be to shorten the time needed to obtain each permit, provide certainty to industry by ensuring consistent implementation across the country, and encourage the use of these cleaner, more efficient technologies.
• The NEPD Group recommends that the President direct the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to work with local and state governments to promote the use of well-designed CHP and other clean power generation at brownfields sites, consistent with the local communities’ interests. EPA will also work to clarify liability issues if they are raised at a particular site.
• Learn more about CHP in the National Energy Policy.