Sec. 2. Findings; purposes

332 words·~2 min read·/bill/117/hr/4903/ih/section-2

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Congress finds that— small businesses in the United States employ roughly half of the workforce, and create about half of the gross domestic product, of the United States; 30,000,000 workers in the United States remain at risk of long-term unemployment, and 1 in 4 small businesses in the United States remain at risk of long-term closure, as a result of the COVID–19 pandemic; prior to the COVID–19 pandemic, there were 2,400,000 workers in the United States employed in the energy efficiency sector, which was growing at a rate 3 times greater than that of the overall economy of the United States; over 300,000 energy efficiency workers remain unemployed as of January 1, 2021, due to the COVID–19 pandemic; nearly 80 percent of energy efficiency workers are employed by companies with fewer than 20 employees;

United States small business energy bills total $60,000,000,000 annually, of which 30 percent could be saved through energy efficiency improvements, which would save small businesses $18,000,000,000 annually; three-quarters of electric and natural gas utility companies in the United States operate demand side management programs to incentivize customers to make energy efficiency improvements; and participation rates for small businesses in demand side management programs are typically very low because small businesses do not have the capital to meet the customer contribution that utilities require.

The purposes of this Act are— to make small businesses more financially viable through energy efficiency improvements that lower monthly utility bills; to restore and create energy efficiency jobs across the United States; to provide work and revenue streams for small businesses in the energy efficiency sector; to ensure that demand side management programs for small businesses include participation by— minority, women, and veteran-owned small businesses; small businesses in disadvantaged neighborhoods; and newly created small businesses; to increase small business participation rates in demand side management programs; to reduce the energy demand and emissions of the United States associated with energy use; and to improve the indoor environments of small businesses across the United States.