Climate Policy Engagement Overview: American Clean Power Association (ACP) demonstrates strategic positive engagement on U.S. federal and state climate policy. The group actively supports the expansion of offshore wind and its CEO, Heather Zichal, has consistently advocated for ambitious federal climate legislation over the 2021-2022 time period. ACP formed via a merger with the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) in January 2021 and the U.S. Energy Storage Association (ESA) in January 2022.

Top-line Messaging on Climate Policy: ACP appears to have positive top-line messaging on climate policy, with CEO Zichal demonstrating active support for climate action. For example, Zichal supported a a net-zero economy by 2050 in an April 2022 blog and advocated in a July 2022 press release for Congress to pass an ambitious climate package following the breakdown in Build Back Better Act negotiations. During COP26 in Glasgow, Zichal stated support for the convention in a November 2021 press release and urged countries to raise their climate ambitions.

Engagement with Climate-Related Policy: ACP demonstrates positive and active engagement on federal and state climate-related policy. At the federal level, the group has steadily pushed for the clean energy tax credits in each iteration of the reconciliation bill. In January 2022, ACP organized an open letter to Congressional leadership advocating for the Build Back Better Act’s renewable energy tax credits, and following Senator Manchin’s rejection of the bill’s provisions in July 2022, the group developed an action campaign to mobilize support for a federal reconciliation bill that included those credits. Later that month, following the announcement of the Inflation Reduction Act, CEO Zichal published a press release that advocated for the passage of the legislation’s clean energy tax credits. ACP has also pushed for more ambitious offshore wind policy: for example, in a June 2022 press release, Zichal supported the Biden administration’s target to develop 30 GW of offshore wind by 2030 and advocated for “policymakers to provide even more certainty to this new industry.” Following the Supreme Court ruling on West Virginia v. EPA, Zichal published a July 2022 press release that opposed the decision’s impact on the agency’s ability to address power sector emissions. Previously, in January 2022, the group joined several other organizations in submitting a brief to the US Court of Appeals that advocated for the Supreme Court to uphold the EPA’s authority to regulate GHG emissions.

ACP has also engaged with positive positions on state-level climate policy. In an August 2022 press release, ACP supported the offshore wind target adopted by the California Energy Commission to develop 2-5 GW of offshore wind by 2030 and 25 GW by 2045. In Virginia, the group submitted February 2022 testimony in opposition to House Bill 118, which proposed to repeal the renewable energy requirements established by the state’s 2020 climate law. As reported by Utility Dive in January 2022, ACP supported New York Governor Hochul’s plan to increase energy storage to at least 6 GW by 2030.

Positioning on Energy Transition: ACP seems to take mostly positive positions on the transition of the energy mix, particularly at the federal level. Throughout August 2022, Zichal strongly supported the climate investments in the Inflation Reduction Act, applauding both Senate and House passage of the bill in separate press releases. In a November 2021 press release, Zichal supported the signing of the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. Previously, in September 2021, ACP signed a joint letter to the U.S. House Committee on Ways and Means that advocated for Congress to include electric vehicle tax credits in the proposed budget reconciliation package. The group’s engagement on permitting reform is less clear: in September 2022, Zichal published a press release that advocated for Congress to pass Senator Manchin’s and Senator Schumer’s permitting reform legislation in order to expedite clean energy investments, without commenting on the bill’s provisions that would greenlight fossil fuel projects.