Subject: Remarks and Factsheet from the U.S.-Caribbean and Central American Energy Summit
From: "Erikson, Daniel P. EOP/OVP" <[email-masked]>
To: "Erikson, Daniel P. EOP/OVP" <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 5 May 2016 00:30:59 +0000

Dear Colleagues: I am pleased to share the Vice President’s remarks at the U.S.-Caribbean and Central American Summit, along with the accompanying factsheet.   With regards, Dan Erikson

THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Vice President
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
For Immediate Release                                                                           May 4, 2016

REMARKS BY VICE PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN
AT THE U.S.-CARIBBEAN-CENTRAL AMERICAN ENERGY SUMMIT
PLENARY LUNCHEON

State Department

1:52 P.M. EDT

     THE VICE PRESIDENT:  Let me begin by saying that all of you -- and all of you are successful leaders elected to office that are sitting here -- you know the secret:  Just surround yourself with people that are smarter than you.  That's exactly what I’ve done.

     Amos Hochstein has over the last seven years educated me, and along with Ernie Moniz, is one of the brightest guys I’ve ever known in my life -- literally educated me.  I’m serious -- educated me on energy issues which I claimed no expertise when I got here.  I still don't claim an expertise, but at least I have a working knowledge of what is needed.

     Amos and I have traveled all over the world from working on the eastern Mediterranean and the gas fields, to pipelines coming out of Eurasia, et cetera.  And I want to thank him for the great job he did here.

     Mr. Prime Minister, thank you for being here.  And, Mr. President, it’s a delight to see you.  By the way, those of you who think you've seen the Seven Wonders of the World, there’s an eighth.  It’s in Panama.  You think I’m joking.  Go see -- if you haven’t yet, many of you have -- the two new locks that have been built.  It is absolutely breathtaking, and it’s a game-changer -- to overuse that phrase.  And you're to be congratulated, Mr. President.

     It is true I have had over the last seven years a passion for what we're working on today and quite frankly the transition that's taking place in Central America.  If you're ever going to be involved in the conduct of public policy in your country, the moment to be involved is at a moment of -- where there’s an inflection point.  I once had a physics professor who defined an inflection point as you're driving down the highway with your hands on the steering wheel at 60 miles an hour, and you turn abruptly six, eight, 10 degrees one way or the other.  Now you're in a position you’ll never be able to get back on the track you were on before.  It’s a change.  It’s an inflection point.

     We're at an inflection in the history of the Western Hemisphere.  And I really mean this -- not because of any one of us in this room who are leaders of our countries, but because of the nature of how the world is changing.

     I said this to some of my colleagues earlier in the private meetings.  For the first time in history, you can look at the hemisphere from Canada to the tip of Argentina and envision a hemisphere that is middle class, that is economically secure, that is physically secure, that's at peace.  It’s within our reach to see that happen.

     Look at the transition that's taken place over the last 30 years -- those of you who have been around that long.  And so this is a gigantic opportunity.

And the keystone, if you will, the connective tissue to seeing that happen is a renaissance in Central America and the Caribbean.  And in my view, that renaissance is not able to occur without a fundamental shift in energy policy and a modernization of the system in a way that is within our power.

     And so from my point of view, I believe that what we're about in this energy summit is one of the keys to bolstering the prosperity of our region.  Strengthening energy security throughout the Caribbean and Central America has been and continues to be a priority of this administration, of the President and myself.

That's why we established the Connecting the Americas 2022 Initiative.  It’s why we launched the Caribbean Energy Security Initiative.  And it is why we created the Energy Security Task Force, and the Clean Energy Finance Facility for the Caribbean and Central America.

It’s also been a priority for me personally.  From the beginning of this administration, this administration has been committed to changing the way we deal with the hemisphere and we deal with the region.  There’s a long, long history that hasn’t always been that smooth or generous.

I’m always -- my colleagues in the Congress used to always kid me for quoting Irish poets.  I’m going to quote another one, James Joyce.  He said that, there is a -- he said, history -- talking about his Ireland, he said, history is a nightmare from which I am constantly trying to awake.  History is a nightmare from which I am constantly trying to awake.

Well, the truth is, it’s not nearly as difficult in the hemisphere.  But over the last 150 years, there is a lot that had to be overcome, particularly in the attitude many of you had about the United States, its intentions, and its actions.

     And what the President and I attempted to do when we came to office -- and it was one of the three specific things we had in mind -- was to fundamentally change the United States’ relationship with not only Latin America, but all of America -- all the Americas.  And we moved from -- and we’ve said this from the outset, and I hope we've demonstrated it -- we’ve moved from the idea of looking up here in this seventh floor or up in the Congress or in the Oval Office from thinking in terms of what can we do for Latin America, what we can do for the Caribbean, what we can do for the Hemisphere, to what we can do with -- as partners.  And I mean it sincerely, I hope we've demonstrated we mean what we said.

     We understand the size and the capacities are greatly different.  But we wanted to demonstrate and conduct our policy to let you all know how much we respect our neighbors.

     And so toward that end, we have spent a lot of time in the pursuit of accomplishing together certain objectives as equal partners.  It’s not just lip service.  I hope we've backed it up with action.  We built this summit around partnership.

     And here’s the truth, it’s entirely in the self-interest of the United States of America for all of you to succeed and thrive.  We're not asking anyone to think in terms of well, isn’t it nice the United States -- this is overwhelmingly -- this changed relationship, this emerging, new relationship, it’s overwhelmingly in the self-interest of the United States of America.  And we hope you view it as your self-interest, as well.

     Here’s the truth.  We want you to be energy secure so more people across this region can -- your region can start businesses, connect to the Internet, generate opportunities, attract foreign investment, grow.  Grow.  The more you grow, the more you prosper, the better off my country is.  And it strengthens our security, as well as yours.  And it opens up new opportunities for shared economic growth.

     The good news is that we're at a nexus for transforming -- with transformative opportunities here.  Low oil prices mean more money this day is available for investment in new energy infrastructure.  It’s equivalent to a billion dollars of stimulus just in the region -- lower energy prices.  Our abundance of natural gas provides a critical, clear transition fuel as we're moving toward adopting renewable technologies.

     And the price of renewable energy technology is rapidly, rapidly decreasing -- making renewable energy a profitable industry that's creating thousands and thousands of new jobs.  Together, these changes are making North America, Mexico, the United States and Canada the epicenter of energy production in the world.  It is not the Arabian Peninsula.  It is not anywhere else in the world.  This is, for the foreseeable future, the epicenter of energy in the world -- which means that our neighbors have access to cheaper, more abundant energy and more opportunity.

     Here in the United States, we just inaugurated our liquefied natural gas export terminal.  We've already sent our first cargos of gas to Latin America.  That's a critical step toward enhancing our collective energy security while lowering energy cost and reducing carbon emissions.  There's also an extraordinary moment for tackling climate change.  Two weeks ago, more than 170 nations, including the United States and many of you, officially signed the Paris climate agreement.  Now we need to build on that momentum and bring the agreement into force.  And it would be a strong showing of regional leadership if all our countries joined this year.  Across the board, the trend lines are moving to embrace cleaner and cheaper energy at the same time.

     This is a moment of opportunity to turn that progress into sustainable energy security that will endure when volatile oil prices return.  And they will return.  That's what we're doing together.  In Central America, you've reached a regional power market -- you've created a regional power market and a regional transmission line that has tripled the volume of electricity traded across borders just within the first 15 months.  Your clean energy projects have attracted nearly $3 billion in new investment just in the past two years.  And that's not counting the three major liquefied natural gas projects being developed in Panama and El Salvador.

     In the Caribbean, you're improving energy sector governance, which opens access to new financing mechanisms and better coordination with development partners.  That's already delivering results.  Among them, a new geothermal power purchasing agreement in Nevis.  A new financing agreement for a geothermal power plant in St. Vincent and the Grenadines.  A restructured electricity sector in the Bahamas to speed the transition of a modern, diversified power system.  A new deal to import natural gas to Jamaica -- a deal that got its start right here at this summit last year.

     The Caribbean is poised to be a laboratory for how we deal with the energy challenges of island nations all around the world.  Look, I really mean this -- I said today in the meeting with the CARACOM countries that the problems they face are problems that island nations throughout the world face.  If you do this right -- if we do this right -- it will become the blueprint for how other nations similarly situated are able to meet the needs of their constituents; attract development; generate jobs.

     As I said, the Caribbean is poised to be a new laboratory -- to be the laboratory.  These are all impressive gains -- leaps and bounds beyond where the region was when President Obama and I took office in 2009.  But we can -- and every one of you in this room knows -- and we must do better than we have, and not lose the momentum you all have generated.  On average, citizens in the Caribbean and Central America still pay some of the highest electric prices in the Western Hemisphere.  That drags down personal income and national growth.

I was saying again to my colleagues when we were meeting -- it's amazing to watch the education by osmosis of elected officials in both political parties, not just in my country but around the world.  And one of the things we found out is that -- I talked over this with Secretary Moniz a lot -- just a decade before we came to office -- two decades before, in America, every politician running for office in both political parties had to deal with the dreaded word outsourcing.  We would go by padlocked plants that had employed 2,000 to 3,000 people before.  It was outsourcing them because we were being out-competed.

Today, AT Kearney does a report every, I think -- has been going it for the last 19 or 20 years -- they asked the 320 largest industrialists in the world:  Where's the best place in the world to invest?  Over the last three years, by a margin larger than it ever has been in the history of keeping that account, they said the United States of America.  I don’t say that to brag about my country, because it’s not that there's nothing special about Americans.  We are you.  We are all of you.  But the interesting thing is that one of the major reasons for this is, if you want to build a plant, the reason why folks are coming home from Asia and Europe, who left -- companies -- because energy is seven times cheaper here than it is in Asia; three to four times cheaper than it is in Europe.

The generic point I'm making is this:  All of a sudden, even though most of us in public life understood it and generically knew it, all of a sudden there's a direct correlation in the minds of every elected official between low energy prices and productivity, growth, economic viability.  You all are in a disadvantage now, in relative terms.

And so the fact of the matter is that personal income growth and national growth in part depends upon the availability of reliable, affordable energy.  In the Caribbean, with all the movements we’ve made, still relies 65 percent -- excuse me, 85 percent of its energy needs are met by petroleum -- 85 percent.  A lot is changing, but it’s still 85 percent.  That may seem fine when oil prices are down, but what happens when they go back up, as they will?

Energy uncertainty is fundamentally damaging to a country’s appeal for investors.  So this summit isn’t a capstone to our work, I believe it’s just the launching pad to the work that we have to do.  We have a window of opportunity, and all of us have to commit to carrying forward.

I appreciate our discussions earlier today on that front, and hearing the recommendations from the task force report.  Ultimately, we want to see Central America keep expanding its regional energy markets to double them, to implement longer-term contracts with providers, creating interconnected markets that serve more people -- that’s how you build economies of scale and attract greater private sector investment with more reliability.

Each of our nations is important and consequential, but it’s hard to compete against much larger neighbors.  And you recognize that.  That’s why we created the Joint Transmission Line.  And I was glad to hear today that Mexico has announced their intention to join the Regional Energy Commission.

But, folks, we won’t reach our goals if we back away from our commitments or make a decision that prizes short-run benefits over long-term results, allowing sweetheart deals to trump open competition for contracts.  It’s not easy.  Those of us elected to office know it takes political courage.  It means prioritizing funding for energy infrastructure and integration in our public budgets, and it means changing laws and regulations.  It’s hard.  It’s a hard thing to do.  But imagine the benefits if you succeed.

Let me give you an example.  In two weeks, a new natural-gas power plan will go online near Monterrey, Mexico.  A new online power plant.  You say what the hell does that have to do with anything?  Everybody knows Mexico has all the energy they need and more.  Well, that plant is powered by natural gas from the United States of America, powering the Mexican Monterrey power plant.  Why is that relevant?  Well, for the press the reason it’s relevant -- you all understand it -- it’s powered by natural gas in the United States that -- this plant with enable Mexico to export 120 megawatts of electricity to Central America, through Guatemala, doubling the electric connectivity between them.

That’s a great development for regional energy integration.  And it’s only possible because Mexico and President Peña Nieto took some extremely difficult political decisions relative to his the energy industry.  Mexico made reforms that weren’t easy.  And Guatemala prioritized importing cheaper, cleaner power.  They made long-term commitments, and now are primed to pay off in ways that weren’t available just six months ago.

The final point I’d like to make is this:  As we keep on the path, as you keep on the path of modernization, the United States will continue to stand with you and support you.  Over the past two years, our overseas private investment corporation has committed more than $250 million to support clean energy projects in the Caribbean and Central America.  And there is currently another $200 million for future projects in the pipeline.

And as the Western Hemisphere gains new prominence and global leadership, we want to make sure that the people of the Caribbean and Central America share in the progress that the region will benefit from.  That’s the reason we’re here.

So let me close by saying a simple thing:  Thank you.  Thank you for being so directly engaged.  And again, I say this as an elected official, thank you for making some very difficult political decision, regulatory decisions in each of your countries.  Thank you very much.

It is not easy sometimes.  Because when there’s a transformational period occurring in any one of our countries, in any endeavor, there’s going to be winners and losers.  There will be winners and losers.  But we’re all elected for one reason:  How do we make the vast majority of our constituents winners, and generate the kind of economic growth that benefits our country?

So, folks, I hope we leave here today reenergize and re-inspired, seeing what we can achieve together.  I genuinely am.  And I think there’s so much more we’re going to be able to do.

                                      END                          2:15 P.M. EDT

THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Vice President

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

May 4, 2016

FACT SHEET:  U.S.-Caribbean and Central American Energy Summit

Today, Vice President Biden chaired the U.S.-Caribbean-Central American Energy Summit in Washington, D.C.  The Summit, which gathered Caribbean and Central American heads of government and energy ministers, multilateral development banks, the private sector, and other international partners, caps off the work of the U.S.-Caribbean-Central American Energy Security Task Force, which President Obama launched with regional leaders in April 2015 to advance energy security, enhance regional energy cooperation, support clean energy integration, and promote donor coordination.  Secretary of State John Kerry held an opening reception for the Summit on May 3, and the plenary meeting of the Summit on May 4 featured presentations by the Vice President, the Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago Keith Rowley, the President of Panama Juan Carlos Varela, Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz, and Inter-American Development Bank President Luis Alberto Moreno.  Partner organizations, including the World Bank, the Caribbean Development Bank, and the Organization of American States also participated. As part of the Summit, the Americas Business Dialogue chaired a series of meetings between heads of government and the private sector to explore new opportunities for trade, investment, and innovation in the energy sector.

At the Summit, the Task Force presented a report<%3ehttp:/www.state.gov/documents/organization/257058.pdf%3c> to leaders, recommending actions to advance Caribbean and Central American energy security and integration, clean energy investment, and regional energy cooperation. The leaders agreed on the importance of a diverse fuel supply and greater access to cleaner, cost-effective, and reliable energy to spur energy security and economic competitiveness in our regions.  The Summit follows robust U.S. engagement on these issues over the past two years, including the launch of the Caribbean Energy Security Initiative by the Vice President in mid-2014, the White House Caribbean Energy Security Summit hosted by the Vice President in January 2015, and four regional Task Force meetings.  The United States is further deepening its energy engagement in the two regions through the following initiatives:

Deepening Regional Energy Integration:

The United States is committed to working with the Caribbean and Central American sub-regions, and their international partners, to create systems that will enable more efficient use of energy at lower costs to their citizens.  Leading initiatives include:

·         Supporting Regional Energy Coordination: On May 4, the Caribbean Community formally launched the Caribbean Sustainable Energy Roadmap and Strategy (C-SERMS) Platform as a mechanism to manage regional coordination and action on energy security. The U.S. government is allocating over $2 million in technical support and assistance for the C-SERMS Platform through the Department of State, USAID, and the U.S. Mission to the Organization of American States, in close coordination with the World Bank, which is also providing support.  The Department of Energy, CARICOM, the Inter-American Development Bank, and the Caribbean Development Bank finalized a Memorandum of Understanding that outlines collaboration and support through the C-SERMS Platform.

·         Promoting Central America Regional Integration: The Task Force agreed to expand the regional market and transmission system (SIEPAC), including initiating the feasibility study to double SIEPAC’s capacity and explore market integration with Mexico.  The State Department will seek to provide up to $5 million to assist Central America to help further the progress of the Regional Electricity Market (known by its Spanish acronym, MER) and realize the region’s vision of a vibrant, interconnected regional electricity market that could have transformative effects on Central America’s competitiveness and prosperity.  This assistance could help set the stage for future expansion of SIEPAC, through which cross-border electricity trade has quadrupled since 2013‎.  Central America and Mexico announced the launch of an Interconnection Commission to explore opportunities for expanding electricity trade and integration.

·         Solving Regional Challenges:  The Department of State’s Energy Resources Bureau allocated over $2 million dollars in 2015 for the Caribbean and Central America.  The Department of State’s Power Sector Program supported the Nevis Island Administration and the Nevis Electric Company in launching a competitive tender for geothermal resources and comprehensive commercial and technical analyses on the interconnection with St. Kitts, engineering analysis for the island’s distribution system, and environmental analysis of existing slim wells.  The Power Sector Program is also working with Central American nations to address technical constraints for increasing trade and putting in place the legal, regulatory, and policy frameworks necessary to support a competitive and dynamic power sector, including assessing commercial options for integrating extra-regional neighbors into the Central American regional electricity market, such as Mexico and Colombia.  The Department of State’s Energy Governance and Capacity Initiative is supporting the Government of Guyana to strengthen the management of its upstream petroleum sector.

·         Providing a Pathway for Fuel Transition:  The United States has taken concrete steps to approve licenses for the export of U.S. liquefied natural gas (LNG), which began flowing to the region earlier this year.  With U.S. LNG shipments now joining supplies from Trinidad and Tobago, countries in the region are better positioned to diversify energy sources in ways that reduce energy costs as well as emissions, while enhancing energy security. The U.S. Department of Energy supports the Caribbean in establishing a market and supply chain for natural gas to assist the region in moving away from a heavy reliance on petroleum for power generation and towards cleaner-burning natural gas.

Catalyzing a Cleaner and More Secure Energy Future:

Working with its regional partners, the United States has launched a number of initiatives to help move the Caribbean and Central America towards a cleaner and more secure energy future.  These include:

·         Investments in Renewable Energy: The Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) is currently conducting due diligence on hundreds of millions of dollars of additional investment for renewable and clean energy projects across Central America and the Caribbean.  In 2014 and 2015, OPIC committed over $256 million to clean and renewable energy projects in the Caribbean and Central America, including financing and political risk insurance to a series of wind and solar projects in Jamaica.

·         Clean Energy Finance: The Clean Energy Finance Facility for the Caribbean and Central America (CEFF-CCA) was established to encourage regional clean energy investment.  Launched in October 2015, the facility is providing $10 million in its first year for early-stage funding to catalyze greater private and public sector investment in clean energy projects, drawing on the expertise and resources of the U.S. Agency for International Development, State Department, the U.S. Overseas Private Investment Corporation, and the U.S. Trade and Development Agency.  Under CEFF-CCA, the U.S. Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) has approved funding for a feasibility study to support the deployment of energy-efficient street lights in Costa Rica.  USTDA is also sponsoring a feasibility study assessing the viability of establishing a pre-payment model for micro grid-supplied power in approximately 40 towns in Haiti.

·         Expanding Access: Through its Regional Clean Energy Initiative, USAID will accelerate regional energy integration and increased transactions in Central America’s Regional Electricity Market.  Pilot projects such as residential solar and solar thermal systems for hospitals and schools will benefit vulnerable, under-served populations. Over the next three years, improved practices and policies supported by the Initiative are expected to leverage significant private and public investment in clean energy in Central America.

·         Greening Tourism:  The tourism industry is the largest energy user in the Caribbean.  DOE, working with its Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, established the Caribbean Hotel Energy Efficiency and Renewables initiative, which supports projects to improve energy and water efficiency as well as the exchange of best practices in the hotel and tourism industry.  As part of the Caribbean Regional Clean Energy Program, USAID is launching complementary activities focused on the Eastern Caribbean that will assist the private sector in developing new financing tools for energy efficiency and renewable energy.

·         Building Capacity for Clean Energy Transitions:  In March 2016, the Department of Energy unveiled its Energy Scenario Planning Tool to help communities achieve their energy transition goals. Building on the Department’s Energy Transition: Islands Playbook published in early 2015, this planning tool and other resources of the Department’s Energy Transition Initiative are available at: http://energy.gov/eere/technology-to-market/energy-transition-initiative.  USAID’s Caribbean Clean Energy Program is working to accelerate clean energy development in the region, with a special focus on Jamaica and the Eastern Caribbean.  Key activities include support for policy formulation, optimizing renewable energy integration, energy efficiency, and donor coordination.

Conclusion

The Caribbean, Central America, and the United States reaffirmed shared energy security objectives at the Summit.  Working together, and with the support of the Inter-American Development Bank and the World Bank, the United States is confident that this region can become a model toward clean and efficient energy generation and use in the Western Hemisphere.  Furthermore, The United States joins with other international and regional institutions, as well as public and private partners, to support efforts in the Caribbean and Central America to achieve a more secure energy future that supports economic growth and the environment and is based on the highest standards of regional cooperation, innovation, and investment.

###

Daniel P. Erikson

Special Advisor on the Western Hemisphere

Office of the Vice President

Ph: (202) 456-9501

Email:  [email-masked]<mailto:[email-masked]>