East SFV Today

Washington, DC – On June 29, 2023, Representatives Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), Nanette Barragán (D-Calif.), and Jimmy Gomez (D-Calif.) led a letter from members of the California congressional delegation to House and Senate leadership urging support of the National Clean Energy Incubator Program and the DOE’s Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations (OCED) in the final FY24 appropriations conference negotiations.

In the letter, the members wrote, “The National Clean Energy Incubator Program, to be established within the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), will have a powerful impact on the nation’s ability to bring innovative technologies to market, accelerating the development of new industries and creating thousands of high-paying jobs. This program will support the research, development, commercialization, and deployment of advanced technologies that will improve our clean energy infrastructure, while promoting economic growth in communities throughout the country.

“The National Clean Energy Incubator Program and OCED are pivotal to scaling the type of clean energy innovation required to bolster American economic competitiveness and national security while combating the climate crisis. We respectfully ask for your support of both in the FY24 appropriations cycle,” they added.

The letter mentioned California’s large clean energy workforce and the challenges that clean energy businesses face in securing resources to support their growth. Funding the National Clean Energy Incubator Program and OCED would address those challenges and boost the national economy.

The members requested that Congress approve the full $15 million in authorized spending for the National Clean Energy Incubator Program and $109 million for OCED, with $20 million dedicated to a competitive funding opportunity for non-profit incubators supporting energy innovation.

The letter was also signed by Representatives Brad Sherman (D-Calif.), Barbara Lee (D-Calif.), Grace F. Napolitano (D-Calif.), Mike Thompson (D-Calif.), Linda T. Sánchez (D-Calif.), Julia Brownley (D-Calif.), Mark DeSaulnier (D-Calif.), Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), Jimmy Panetta (D-Calif.), Katie Porter (D-Calif.), Sydney Kamlager-Dove (D-Calif.), and Kevin Mullin (D-Calif.).

The letter was supported by the Los Angeles Cleantech Incubator (LACI).

The full letter can be found here and below.

Dear Leader Schumer, Speaker McCarthy, Leader McConnell, and Leader Jeffries: 

California is home to some of the most innovative clean technology companies in the country. California has the highest share of jobs in clean energy technologies in the nation, and our workforce is prepared to keep California at the forefront of global cleantech innovations. 

And it’s not just California that is benefiting from the transition to a clean energy economy. Clean energy innovators and entrepreneurs are driving American economic growth and competitiveness through job creation and technology development. Clean energy is no longer a niche industry; it’s become a pillar of the national economy. Clean energy companies are building manufacturing plants all over the United States and creating tens of thousands of jobs along the way. 

However, many innovators and entrepreneurs face challenges in gathering the resources they need to build their businesses. Clean energy incubators and accelerators work with early-stage companies to provide lab and office space, engage potential customers and investors, and develop their business models. Clean energy incubators play a critical role in speeding up the growth and success of start-ups and early-stage companies. 

We applaud efforts in Congress to advance policies to invest in our nation’s competitiveness, manufacturing capacity, and innovation prowess. The recently enacted bipartisan CHIPS and Science Act (Pub. L. 117–167) includes historic investments in American energy innovation designed to bolster U.S. competitiveness while increasing energy independence and improving energy affordability. This legislation will help ensure that the U.S. maintains its place as the world leader in developing revolutionary technologies and that those technologies are commercialized domestically to have the greatest economic impact for Americans. 

The CHIPS Act authorized $75 million through FY2027 to establish a program to support incubators and accelerators across the nation that help facilitate the commercialization of energy technologies. The National Clean Energy Incubator Program, to be established within the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), will have a powerful impact on the nation’s ability to bring innovative technologies to market, accelerating the development of new industries and creating thousands of high-paying jobs. This program will support the research, development, commercialization, and deployment of advanced technologies that will improve our clean energy infrastructure, while promoting economic growth in communities throughout the country. We are writing to request that Congress include in the final FY24 appropriations conference negotiations the full $15 million in authorized spending for the National Clean Energy Incubator Program.

Similarly, DOE’s Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations (OCED) was established in December 2021 as part of the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (Pub. L. 117–58) to accelerate clean energy technology commercialization and fill a critical innovation gap on the path to achieving our nation’s climate goals of net zero emissions by 2050. OCED’s mission is to deliver clean energy demonstration projects at scale in partnership with the private sector to accelerate deployment, market adoption, and the equitable transition to a decarbonized energy system. The FY23 Consolidated Appropriations Act (Pub. L. 117-328) funded OCED at $89 million, which was $125 million below the FY23 President’s budget request. 

Given the important work being done at OCED to address emissions and combat climate change, we ask that OCED be funded at $109 million in the final FY24 appropriations conference negotiations, with $20 million dedicated to a competitive funding opportunity for non-profit incubators supporting energy innovation. 

The National Clean Energy Incubator Program and OCED are pivotal to scaling the type of clean energy innovation required to bolster American economic competitiveness and national security while combating the climate crisis. We respectfully ask for your support of both in the FY24 appropriations cycle.

Original source can be found here.