Accelerating Investment in Industrial Energy Efficiency

Executive Order 13624 of August 30, 2012

Accelerating Investment in Industrial Energy
Efficiency

By the authority vested in me as President by the
Constitution and the laws of the United States of
America, and in order to promote American manufacturing
by helping to facilitate investments in energy
efficiency at industrial facilities, it is hereby
ordered as follows:

Section 1. Policy. The industrial sector accounts for
over 30 percent of all energy consumed in the United
States, and, for many manufacturers, energy costs
affect overall competitiveness. While our manufacturing
facilities have made progress in becoming more energy
efficient over the past several decades, there is an
opportunity to accelerate and expand these efforts with
investments to reduce energy use through more efficient
manufacturing processes and facilities and the expanded
use of combined heat and power (CHP). Instead of
burning fuel in an on-site boiler to produce thermal
energy and also purchasing electricity from the grid, a
manufacturing facility can use a CHP system to provide
both types of energy in one energy-efficient step.
Accelerating these investments in our Nation's
factories can improve the competitiveness of United
States manufacturing, lower energy costs, free up
future capital for businesses to invest, reduce air
pollution, and create jobs.

Despite these benefits, independent studies have
pointed to under-investment in industrial energy
efficiency and CHP as a result of numerous barriers.
The Federal Government has limited but important
authorities to overcome these barriers, and our efforts
to support investment in industrial energy efficiency
and CHP should involve coordinated engagement with a
broad set of stakeholders, including States,
manufacturers, utilities, and others. By working with
all stakeholders to address these barriers, we have an
opportunity to save industrial users tens of billions
of dollars in energy costs over the next decade.

There is no one-size-fits-all solution for our
manufacturers, so it is imperative that we support
these investments through a variety of approaches,
including encouraging private sector investment by
setting goals and highlighting the benefits of
investment, improving coordination at the Federal
level, partnering with and supporting States, and
identifying investment models beneficial to the
multiple stakeholders involved.

To formalize and support the close interagency
coordination that is required to accelerate greater
investment in industrial energy efficiency and CHP,
this order directs certain executive departments and
agencies to convene national and regional stakeholders
to identify, develop, and encourage the adoption of
investment models and State best practice policies for
industrial energy efficiency and CHP; provide technical
assistance to States and manufacturers to encourage
investment in industrial energy efficiency and CHP;
provide public information on the benefits of
investment in industrial energy efficiency and CHP; and
use existing Federal authorities, programs, and
policies to support investment in industrial energy
efficiency and CHP.

Sec. 2.  Encouraging Investment in Industrial
Efficiency. The Departments of Energy, Commerce, and
Agriculture, and the Environmental Protection Agency,
in coordination with the National Economic Council, the
Domestic Policy Council, the Council on Environmental
Quality, and the Office of Science and Technology
Policy, shall coordinate policies to encourage
investment in industrial efficiency in order to reduce
costs for industrial users,

improve U.S. competitiveness, create jobs, and reduce
harmful air pollution. In doing so, they shall engage
States, industrial companies, utility companies, and
other stakeholders to accelerate this investment.
Specifically, these agencies shall, as appropriate and
consistent with applicable law:

    (a) coordinate and strongly encourage efforts to
achieve a national goal of deploying 40 gigawatts of
new, cost-effective industrial CHP in the United States
by the end of 2020;
    (b) convene stakeholders, through a series of
public workshops, to develop and encourage the use of
best practice State policies and investment models that
address the multiple barriers to investment in
industrial energy efficiency and CHP;
    (c) utilize their respective relevant authorities
and resources to encourage investment in industrial
energy efficiency and CHP, such as by:

(i) providing assistance to States on accounting for the potential emission
reduction benefits of CHP and other energy efficiency policies when
developing State Implementation Plans (SIPs) to achieve national ambient
air quality standards;

(ii) providing incentives for the deployment of CHP and other types of
clean energy, such as set-asides under emissions allowance trading program
state implementation plans, grants, and loans;

(iii) employing output-based approaches as compliance options in power and
industrial sector regulations, as appropriate, to recognize the emissions
benefits of highly efficient energy generation technologies like CHP; and

(iv) seeking to expand participation in and create additional tools to
support the Better Buildings, Better Plants program at the Department of
Energy, which is working with companies to help them achieve a goal of
reducing energy intensity by 25 percent over 10 years, as well as utilizing
existing partnership programs to support energy efficiency and CHP;

    (d) support and encourage efforts to accelerate
investment in industrial energy efficiency and CHP by:

(i) providing general guidance, technical analysis and information, and
financial analysis on the value of investment in industrial energy
efficiency and CHP to States, utilities, and owners and operators of
industrial facilities;

(ii) improving the usefulness of Federal data collection and analysis; and

(iii) assisting States in developing and implementing State-specific best
practice policies that can accelerate investment in industrial energy
efficiency and CHP.

In implementing this section, these agencies should
consult with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission,
as appropriate.

Sec. 3. General Provisions. (a) Nothing in this order
shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect:

(i) the authority granted by law to an executive department, agency, or the
head thereof; or

(ii) the functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget
relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals.

    (b) This order shall be implemented consistent with
applicable law and subject to the availability of
appropriations.

    (c) This order is not intended to, and does not,
create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural,
enforceable at law or in equity by any party against
the United States, its departments, agencies, or
entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any
other person.

    (Presidential Sig.)

THE WHITE HOUSE,

    August 30, 2012.