EESI at 40: The Origins of the Congressional Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency EXPO and Policy Forum

Exhibit space at the 2018 Congressional Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency EXPO and Policy Forum

A lot has changed since April 1996 when the first Renewable Energy EXPO was held in the Caucus Room of the Cannon House Office Building. Congress had been debating sweeping cuts to clean energy research and development, including reductions in funding for the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) in Golden, Colorado. To shore up durable bipartisan support for renewable energy on Capitol Hill, Rep. Dan Schaefer (R-Colo.), who represented the district that NREL calls home, had established the House Renewable Energy Caucus a few months earlier in February.

The goal of the Caucus was to increase awareness of and support for renewable energy in Congress without explicitly endorsing or lobbying for specific legislation. Founded by Rep. Schaefer along with Reps. Vern Ehlers (R-Mich.), Scott Klug (R-Wis.), David Minge (D-Minn.), Bill Richardson (D-N.M.), Matt Salmon (R-Ariz.), and Karen Thurman (D-Fla.), the Renewable Energy Caucus grew quickly. In its first recruitment push, the founders of the Renewable Energy Caucus emphasized that “American renewable energy technologies help offset fuel imports, build our domestic economy, create major export opportunities, and provide clean, inexhaustible energy for millions of consumers.”

By the time of the first EXPO, the Caucus already boasted 70 members—a tenfold increase that Rep. Schaefer saw as evidence for the broad support renewables actually enjoyed in Congress and throughout the country. This support was also evident at the EXPO itself, which attracted 34 companies, trade associations, and nonprofits as exhibitors. More than 600 visitors, including members of Congress and agency representatives, perused the hands-on exhibits of solar panels to touch and electric vehicles to take for a ride. (Attendees of the first EXPO also recalled that free pints of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream helped bring in the crowds.)

The massive success of the first EXPO made the case for the event to continue as an annual opportunity for members of Congress and their staff to learn about the expanding biomass, geothermal, hydrogen, hydropower, solar, and wind industries. “We all felt that it was critical that people know both that renewable technology existed and how it worked,” said Carol Werner, EESI’s former executive director. “Seeing is believing. It was really important to bring this to the Hill, because there was a lot of skepticism, a lot of lack of knowledge—it was really, really important to try and make this real.” In 1997, the Sustainable Energy Coalition assumed organizational responsibilities and hosted the first iteration of the Congressional Renewable Energy EXPO—the direct forebearer of the event that continues today.

Sen. Wayne Allard (R-Colo.) had been a member of the House Renewable Energy Caucus and decided to launch its Senate equivalent in May 1998 along with Sens. Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.), Jim Jeffords (R-Vt.), Tim Johnson (D-S.D.), and Robert Kerrey (D-Neb.). The senators also embraced energy efficiency, which was reflected in their creation’s new name: the Senate Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Caucus. The House followed suit and expanded their Caucus to embrace energy efficiency in 1999.

The organizers decided to add a Policy Forum to the annual EXPO in 2004 to encourage additional substantive discussions about energy efficiency and renewable energy as climate solutions. Representatives from organizations exhibiting in the EXPO were invited to speak on a series of panels to explore new and proposed policies and opportunities to maximize the economic potential and environmental benefits of clean energy. The Policy Forum continues to be a core element of the annual event, and helped bridge the pandemic shutdown that made the in-person EXPO impossible in 2020 and 2021.

EESI assumed the lead role in organizing the Congressional Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency EXPO and Policy Forum from the Sustainable Energy Coalition in 2014. A decade later, the event is going strong. The House and Senate Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Caucuses reprise their roles as honorary co-hosts each year and help set panel topics, identify speakers, and curate the exhibition space. To accommodate staff who are unable to stop by the EXPO during business hours, exhibitors now have an opportunity to meet with Congressional staff and other visitors during a networking reception that takes place in the same space as the exhibit.

In the years since the Congressional Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency EXPO first took shape, clean energy has had a lead role in climate action that might have been difficult to imagine in 1996. Today, renewable energy accounts for 21.4% of all electricity generated in the United States (compared to 12.28% in 1996) and has become considerably cheaper than fossil fuel energy. Energy consumption per person has remained stable even as the U.S. economy has increased by 186% (from $941 billion to $2.7 trillion). And greenhouse gas emissions have fallen by 10% as our energy mix has become cleaner and buildings and vehicles have become more efficient than ever before.

One of the architects of the first EXPO considers nonpartisan education as a key factor that has encouraged the growth of energy efficiency and renewable energy. “Energy doesn't need to be partisan,” explained Craig Cox, an aide to Rep. Schaefer when the House Renewable Energy Caucus was founded. “If clean energy is the most affordable option, why stick to outmoded fossil technologies that pollute the environment and contribute to climate change?”

“We had to fight a lot of misconceptions back in those early days,” remembered Cox. “That renewables were niche, that they would never succeed without government subsidies, that they were kind of fringe. Most of the arguments we made 25 years ago have been borne out by real-world experience in the utility and public policy arenas. We helped plant a seed.”

Authors: Daniel Bresette and Amaury Laporte