Clean energy program likely to be dropped because of Manchin's objections

The Clean Energy Performance Program, the linchpin of President Biden’s proposed climate change legislation, is likely to be dropped from the Democrats’ spending bill because of opposition from Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., multiple sources have told NBC News.

The sources say that the program will most likely be removed from the massive spending package known as the “reconciliation bill” that Democrats plan without Republican support, but that negotiations are ongoing and that no final decision has been made.

The $150 billion program, known as the CEPP, is the most sweeping climate measure in the reconciliation bill, and the Biden administration has been counting on it to achieve the bulk of the greenhouse gas emissions reductions in the measure. The carrot-and-stick approach would pay electric utility companies that switch from fossil fuels to renewable or clean energy sources and fine those that don’t.

“The CEPP is not going to happen, and they are working on alternatives, but I don’t know any that have been accepted by Manchin or the White House,” one source with knowledge of the discussions said.

The New York Times earlier reported that the program is likely to be dropped from the bill.