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The United States Capitol building

We previously blogged here, here, and here about President Biden’s infrastructure plan, first proposed in March 2021. On August 10, 2021, the Senate passed a bipartisan infrastructure bill that included many pieces of President Biden’s plan, but also contained numerous revisions, reflective of the compromises necessary to pass this ambitious legislation in the Senate.

The Senate approved bill scaled down Biden’s infrastructure plan—from $2,600 billion to $550 billion, cutting investments in research and development, clean energy tax credits, public buildings including schools and homes, and home- and community-based care. Here’s what the Senate bill included and what it cut.
Continue Reading The Senate Approved a $1.2 Trillion Infrastructure Bill: Here’s What it Funds

On April 27, the Biden administration announced new proposed infrastructure initiatives that may enable developers to finally break ground on their “shovel-ready” transmission line projects, including over $8 billion in financing tools from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) as part of the administration’s effort to develop low-carbon energy. On the same day, the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) also issued new guidance on how federal and state agencies can work together to approve developers looking to use the land running alongside highways, known as the federal highway right-of-way (ROW), for construction of power transmission, clean-energy, and connectivity projects.
Continue Reading Biden Administration Infrastructure Plan Could Jumpstart “Shovel-Ready” High-Voltage Transmission Line Projects

SH21-American-Jobs-Plan-Series

In parts one and two of our series on President Biden’s infrastructure plan, we have discussed infrastructure resilience, remediation, green technologies, and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Today, we focus on a central theme woven into President Biden’s proposal: equity and environmental justice.

Many of President Biden’s proposals fall into several of the four areas of federal policy intervention that environmental research institution Resources for the Future has identified as necessary for a fair transition to greener technology: workforce development and labor standards, economic development, environmental remediation and infrastructure, and public benefits. The summaries below include some of that overlap.
Continue Reading Biden Infrastructure Proposal Prioritizes Equity and Environmental Justice

SH21-American-Jobs-Plan-Series

We have previously blogged about President Biden’s infrastructure plan released in late March. The sweeping $2 trillion plan provides a blueprint designed to strengthen America’s infrastructure and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. This goal was also highlighted in the president’s recent discretionary spending request to Congress, requesting $1.8 billion in programs to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, which EPA Administrator Michael Regan called “historic investments to tackle the climate crisis[.]”

In three principal areas — research and development, vehicle emissions, and building improvements — the Biden plan pushes to spur technological advancement and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Continue Reading Biden Infrastructure Proposal Plants Seeds for a Greener Tomorrow

SH21-American-Jobs-Plan-Series

President Biden’s sweeping infrastructure proposal, the American Jobs Plan, takes a broad view of what constitutes infrastructure and tackles many of the issues President Biden highlighted in his campaign, including climate change, the state of the country’s traditional infrastructure, and social inequality. The massive $2 trillion plan creates incentives and opportunities for utilities and other entities in the energy sector to remediate legacy sites and pivot toward a more resilient and greener energy infrastructure. …
Continue Reading American Jobs Plan Targets Resilience, Green Tech, and Remediation to Strengthen Crumbling Infrastructure

Businessman in energy efficiency concept.

As investors become more interested in incorporating sustainability into investment portfolios, many project proponents find that incorporating ESG into infrastructure planning provides a “leg up” in securing investors and financing. An ESG disclosure, or an “environment,” “social,” and “governance” framework designed to disclose risk, makes it easier for investors to match projects with their own sustainability goals.
Continue Reading Project Proponents: Five Tips to Use ESG Criteria in Drawing More Infrastructure Investors

Sewer Reflections

Chicago has a long list of things to be proud of, but the current state of the city’s combined sewer system infrastructure is not at the top of that list. The Chicago Public Library reports that the sewer system dates back to the 1850s and currently installed pipes may be a century old.
Continue Reading Chicago’s Stormwater Inundation Presents Green Infrastructure Opportunities for Business

On June 6, 2013, the Edison Electric Institute (EEI) issued a white paper urging the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to reevaluate the method it uses to establish returns on equity (ROEs) for transmission investments. In the white paper, EEI asserts that investment in transmission infrastructure provides considerable benefits to transmission customers, and notes that transmission investment by its members has nearly doubled between 2001 and 2011.
Continue Reading EEI Urges FERC to Reform its ROE Methodology