Firms doing business in the United States
    From an economic standpoint, “average” industries and companies would come out equal under this plan.  In this case, “average” would mean an industry or company that uses an average amount of energy in order to produce their product.  While the costs of all goods and services would be increased (from paying energy fees), consumers would have more money available (from their energy returns) to spend and the effects would balance.  However, energy-intensive industries would have to increase their prices more than average.  Similarly, individual firms within an industry that are less energy efficient than their peers would have to learn to use less energy in order to maintain competitive prices.
 
Firms that export goods and services
    Without an appropriate “fix,” energy fees would be a burden on American industries that export to other countries and compete on the international marketplace.  To compensate, energy fees would need to be waived on energy used to produce goods and services that are exported to countries without security or carbon fees comparable to ours.
 
An energy import fee
    Energy fees applied only to United States companies would also unfairly advantage foreign firms importing their goods in the US.  To compensate, an appropriately sized energy fee should be added to such imports to level the playing field.  The size of these fees should be based on estimates of the amount of energy required to produce the product, and any energy fees or taxes that exist in the country where the goods are produced.
 
Effects on government
    Federal and state governments are also major consumers of energy, meaning that they would also be subject to the increased costs of energy.  As a result, government agencies would be motivated to become more efficient, or face asking voters to pay for increased taxes.  While such tax increases would be easier to bear because of fee rebates, they would nonetheless be unwelcome.
Effects of energy fees on US corporations
Back