Heather Zichal – CEO of the newly-formed American Clean Power Association (ACPA) and former adviser to leading Democrats – believes she will be able to “reach across the table” to Republicans who she expects to be more amenable to leveling the playing field for renewables versus fossil fuels in the new US Congress that convenes in January.

“It is looking at reality. Renewable energy is now a $1trn industry. We are not some far-off, far-flung in-the-future power source. We are here, we are today. Creating jobs and putting steel in the ground. I think there is growing and broader recognition of that,” Zichal said in an interview with Recharge following her appointment earlier in December.

“We’re facing a pivotal moment when investments in renewable energy can help solve two of the nation’s biggest challenges. The first rebuilding our economy and the second addressing climate change.”

Most wind development has – 82% thus far – and will continue to occur in Republican-held electoral districts and a growing percentage of utility-scale solar as well. About 77% of all Republicans in Congress, for example, have at least one wind farm or manufacturing plant in their districts.

The party remains generally supportive of renewable energy tax credits and clean energy research funding at major federal science agencies, something President-elect Joe Biden wants to greatly increase. Most Republican lawmakers also have been receptive to his calls for much greater public investment to help expand and upgrade the nation’s ageing electric grid.

In a sign Republicans are likely to be more disposed to considering legislative initiatives that promote cleaner energy alternatives, a large number of party lawmakers agreed to include federal tax incentives for renewables in a massive spending package passed by Congress earlier on Tuesday.

The renewables sector has been frustrated for years over slow-rolling federal permitting processes that have helped thwart progress on numerous long-haul transmission projects to link abundant, low-cost solar and wind resources from the country’s remote interior with distant load centres.

Republicans have also shown interest in Biden's proposals for further development of clean energy domestic production capabilities for technologies such as batteries that have multiple industrial applications.

These and potentially other policy and regulatory issues could be starting points for ACPA to begin advancing one of its core objectives which is to help educate lawmakers on Capitol Hill on the economic, environmental and job-creation benefits of renewables.

“I have a history of reaching across the table and finding ways to work to advance solutions,” said Zichal, who draws on her experience in the White House under President Obama on climate issues, as legislative director for former Senator John Kerry, himself named climate envoy by Biden, and in the private sector.

Once in a generation opportunity

“As I look at it, we have a once in a generation opportunity to ensure the policies and the regulatory frameworks enable even further growth in the renewable industry. In my mind, it is not a question of if, but how fast,” she said, noting how rapidly renewables’ penetration has occurred, driven by cost reduction, state mandates and technology advancements.

I am very optimistic we are going to be able to work to build some real champions on the Republican side.

“Everything has changed so quickly,” she noted. “What we have become, and how powerful we are as a driver of job creation today. That can speak well to both sides of the aisle, frankly. I am very optimistic we are going to be able to work to build some real champions on the Republican side of the aisle.”

When Biden takes office on 20 January his Democratic Party will hold a slim majority in the 435-seat House of Representatives. Republicans now have 50 of 100 Senate seats with 5 January run-off elections to decide if 46 Democrats and two independents that caucus with them can match that total.

Should Democrats prevail, the Senate, where Biden served for 36 years, would have a 50-50 party split for the first time since 2001. Kamala Harris, who will be the incoming vice president and president of the Senate, could cast the deciding vote on legislation. Her vote, however, would only count if affirmative.

Even so, Biden cannot be sure that all Democratic senators would support his entire four-year, $2trn federal climate plan, the most ambitious in the nation’s history, aimed at setting the US on course to reach net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. That is consistent with the Paris Agreement that the US will rejoin under Biden.

Part of Biden’s “Build Back Better” strategy is for his administration to create the necessary economic and regulatory environment along with expanded federal tax incentives to accelerate and sustain record levels of clean energy installations through 2035. By then, the goal is to achieve a carbon-free electric grid.

Most Republicans in Congress would likely reject making Biden’s net-zero emissions target and grid clean-energy standard legally binding. He should expect push-back on elimination of the myriad fossil-fuel subsidies in the federal tax code, which were embedded decades ago and do not require periodic renewal. Some lawmakers, however, appear open to reducing them.

Technology neutral

ACPA will formally launch in January and was formed through the amalgamation of the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA), a national trade group, and a range of companies that develop, procure and produce renewable energy as well as those in the supply chain.

“I think it is important that that American Clean Power is technology neutral and not only includes companies that generate the power but also the end users,” she said, adding that a lot of its member companies are not involved with one technology and their agenda “covers all four corners of wind, solar, storage and transmission.”

As the renewables industry evolved, “so did the need for a trade association that can mirror where the industry was and where the priorities are,” she said.

Power Players

'I can reach across the table': Obama aide heading new clean power body will seek Republican 'champions'