News

Gillibrand seeks oil company incentive fee

By Jim Planck

CATSKILL — U.S. Rep. Kirsten Gillibrand wants companies holding unused federal oil leases to pay an annual incentive fee into a special alternative energy fund.

Gillibrand is one of 18 representatives, including fellow Hudson Valley Democratic Congressman Maurice Hinchey, who have co-sponsored the Responsible Ownership of Public Lands Act in the House of Representatives. The bill does not yet have a sponsor in the Senate.

It basically seeks to have oil and natural gas companies pay a fee if they have federal “onshore and offshore” leases that they aren’t using, or “under which production is not occurring.”

The fee would be applied against the companies on a per acre basis, and would vary depending on how many years the lease has not been producing.

In each of the first three years, the fee would be $5 per acre.

In the fourth year it would kick up to $25 an acre, and for the fifth year, and every year after that for the term of the lease, $50 each for non-productive acres.

The fees would then go into a special “Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Fund,” for a total of up to $625 million in dedicated uses, with the balance going into the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP).

The largest portion of the fund, $200 million, would be transferred to the federal Low Income Weatherization Program to help weatherize low income housing.

The next largest portion would be $100 million for solar energy research and development, as well as public education and outreach materials.

A program to improve energy efficiency of buildings and reduce green house gas emissions from them would get $70 million.

A wind energy research and development program would get $65 million, including for “turbines capable of operating in areas with low wind speeds.”

The Department of the Interior would get $50 million for audits, investigation, and environmental mitigation regarding oil and gas.

Another $40 million would go to advanced vehicles research and development.

A separate $30 million is to accelerate basic research on energy storage systems for electric drive vehicles, stationary applications, and electricity transmission and distribution.

Additionally, another $30 million would go to that same field, but for “applied research,” not basic.

Lastly, $20 million each would go into energy storage systems demonstrations and vehicle energy storage systems demonstrations.

“Our long-term energy security,” Gillibrand said in a statement, “is tied to our ability to work toward achieving energy independence through investment and deployment of new renewable energy technologies.”

“I want America, and specifically upstate New York,” said Gillibrand, “to be the market leader in the development of these new technologies that will not only bring us closer to achieving energy independence, but will create ‘green collar’ jobs and revitalize our agricultural and manufacturing bases.”

“Our region,” she added, “is blessed with not just the natural resources that can create energy through solar, wind, hydroelectric, and geothermal power, but we also have the creativity and innovation to lead the region in the development of non-food based biofuels, fuel cell technology, and energy efficient building and product manufacturing.”

Gillibrand explained that the purpose of the fee is not only to raise funds for research and development, but to provide oil and natural gas companies with a financial incentive to use those federal leases for production.

“We can’t drill our way out of this problem,” she said, “but for the oil and gas companies to continue to make record profits while upstate families are struggling with record prices at the pump — and not to increase production from the leases they currently have — is unacceptable.”

“It is time for American energy policy,” Gillibrand said, “to be dictated by the consumers, and not the oil and gas industry.”

Reader Comments

Submit a Comment