WASHINGTON — Rep. Cory Gardner (R-CO), Rep. Peter Welch, (D-VT), Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE) and Sen. John Boozman (R-AR), joined by 117 House colleagues and 22 Senate colleagues, are calling for a 5-year extension of President Obama’s federal buildings energy efficiency initiative. 

In 2011, the President kicked off a 2-year initiative to achieve $2 billion in energy savings in federal buildings. The bipartisan, bicameral coalition of legislators is calling on the President to continue the successful use of performance contracting in federal facilities by launching a 5-year, $5 billion extension of the 2011 initiative.

The 2011 executive order employed the use of Energy Savings Performance Contracts (ESPCs) and Utility Energy Services Contracts (UESCs) to achieve energy savings in federal buildings. Under an ESPC or UESC, an energy services company or a utility negotiates a contract with a federal agency that specifies the amount of energy savings it will achieve through retrofits and other measures. The company or utility is then paid for its performance out of the savings it achieves rather than through appropriated funds. 

The federal government spends over $6 billion annually on energy use in federal facilities. 

Rep. Gardner, Rep. Welch, and Senator Coons have introduced legislation (H.R.2689 and S.1308) to advance the use of ESPCs and UESCs in the federal government that mirrors the expansion proposed in the coalition’s letter to the President. 

The legislators point out in their letter that the 2011 initiative has led to “a substantial increase in federal facility upgrades carried out by private-sector entities without any upfront cost to the taxpayer … There is still substantial potential for achieving more savings and the success of the past two years’ effort has created important momentum that should now be continued.”

117 House Members, including 70 Democrats and 47 Republicans, have signed onto the Gardner-Welch letter which can be read here. 22 Senators, including 16 Democrats and 6 Republicans, have signed the identical Coons-Boozman letter which is still open for signatures in the Senate.

The following Representatives and Senators have signed the Gardner-Welch-Coons-Boozman letter to date:

HOUSE SENATE
Rep. Mark Amodei Sen. Chris Coons
Rep. Andy Barr Sen. John Boozman
Rep. John Barrow Sen. Ron Wyden
Rep. Marsha Blackburn Sen. Rob Portman
Rep. Earl Blumenauer Sen. Bernie Sanders
Rep. Bruce Braley Sen. Lamar Alexander
Rep. Paul Broun Sen. Tom Udall
Rep. Julia Brownley Sen. John Hoeven
Rep. Vern  Buchanan Sen. Jeanne Shaheen
Rep. Cheri Bustos Sen. Saxby Chambliss
Rep. Lois  Capps Sen. Brian Schatz
Rep. Tony Cardenas Sen. Jim Inhofe
Rep. Matt Cartwright Sen. Al Franken
Rep. Judy Chu Sen. Jeff Merkley
Rep. Howard Coble Sen. Mark Begich
Rep. Mike Coffman Sen. Martin Heinrich
Rep. Steve Cohen Sen. Ed Markey
Rep. Doug Collins Sen. Richard Blumenthal
Rep. Gerald  Connolly Sen. Chris Murphy
Rep. John Conyers Sen. Robert Menendez
Rep. Jim Cooper Sen. Jack Reed
Rep. Rodney Davis Sen. Dick Durbin
Rep. John Delaney

Rep. Rosa DeLauro

Rep. Jeff Denham

Rep. Charlie Dent

Rep. Donna Edwards

Rep. Renee Ellmers

Rep. Anna Eshoo

Rep. Sam Farr

Rep. Stephen Fincher

Rep. Mike Fitzpatrick

Rep. Bill Flores

Rep. Trent Franks  
Rep. Cory Gardner

Rep. Chris Gibson

Rep. Phil Gingrey

Rep. Paul Gosar

Rep. Tim Griffin

Rep. Raul Grijalva

Rep. Brett Guthrie

Rep. Ralph Hall

Rep. Richard Hanna

Rep. Denny Heck

Rep. Jim Himes

Rep. Rush Holt

Rep. Mike Honda

Rep. Jared Huffman

Rep. Randy Hultgren

Rep. Lynn Jenkins

Rep. Pitts Joseph

Rep. Bill Keating

Rep. Joseph P. Kennedy, III

Rep. Derek Kilmer
Rep. Adam Kinzinger  
Rep. Anne McLane Kuster  
Rep. Jim Langevin  
Rep. Barbara Lee  
Rep. Zoe Lofgren  
Rep. Alan Lowenthal  
Rep. Dan Maffei  
Rep. Jim Matheson  
Rep. Doris Matsui  
Rep. Michael McCaul  
Rep. Betty McCollum  
Rep. Jim McDermott  
Rep. Jim McGovern  
Rep. Mike McIntyre  
Rep. David McKinley  
Rep. George Miller  
Rep. Jim Moran  
Rep. Mick Mulvaney  
Rep. Patrick Murphy  
Rep. Richard Nolan  
Rep. Alan Nunnelee  
Rep. Bill Owens  
Rep. Frank Pallone  
Rep. Bill Pascrell  
Rep. Erik Paulsen  
Rep. Ed  Perlmutter  
Rep. Scott Peters  
Rep. Pingree Pingree  
Rep. Mark Pocan  
Rep. Jared Polis  
Rep. Bill Posey  
Rep. David Price  
Rep. Mike Quigley  
Rep. Charlie Rangel  
Rep. Reid Ribble  
Rep. Raul Ruiz  
Rep. Tim Ryan  
Rep. John Sarbanes  
Rep. Jan Schakowsky  
Rep. Kurt Schrader  
Rep. Robert "Bobby" Scott  
Rep. Carol Shea Porter
Rep. Mike Simpson  
Rep. Krysten Sinema  
Rep. Jackie Speier  
Rep. Lee Terry  
Rep. John Tierney  
Rep. Paul Tonko  
Rep. Niki Tsongas  
Rep. Fred Upton  
Rep. Chris Van Hollen  
Rep. Greg Walden  
Rep. Jackie Walorski  
Rep. Henry Waxman  
Rep. Daniel Webster  
Rep. Peter Welch  
Rep. Ed Whitfield  
Rep. Roger Williams  
Rep. Joe Wilson  
Rep. Frank Wolf  
Rep. Steve Womack  
Rep. John Yarmuth  
Rep. Todd Young  

The letter is backed by a broad and diverse coalition of groups including:

ABM
AO Smith Corporation
Alliance for Industrial Efficiency
Alliance to Save Energy
Ameresco
American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy (ACEEE)
Boulder County Board of County Commissioners
Business Council for Sustainable Energy (BCSE)
Conservation Services Group (CSG)
Constellation
Danfoss
Digital Energy & Sustainability Solutions Campaign (DESSC)
Energy Future Coalition
Environment America
Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI)
Federal Performance Contracting Coalition (FPCC)
Honeywell
Information Technology Industry Council (ITIC)
Institute for Market Transformation (IMT)
Johnson Controls
National Association of Energy Service Companies (NAESCO)
National Association of State Energy Officials (NASEO)
National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA)
National Grid
Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC)
NORESCO
Northeast Energy Efficiency Council (NEEC)
Schneider Electric
Siemens
Sierra Club
Trane/Ingersoll Rand
U.S. Chamber of Commerce
U.S. Green Building Council