The House Energy and Commerce Committee’s Subcommittee on Energy, Climate, and Grid Security on Oct. 25 passed bills that would prohibit the Department of Energy from increasing distribution transformer conservation standards for five years, require federal energy regulators to review federal agency actions that are likely to have significant negative impacts on the reliability and adequacy of the bulk-power system, and reform the federal hydropower licensing process to protect existing resources and encourage the development of small and next-generation projects.
The subcommittee passed a bill sponsored by Representative Richard Hudson (R-NC) that would prohibit the DOE from increasing distribution transformer conservation standards for five years.
The American Public Power Association supports the bill, H.R. 4167, on the grounds that a delay is urgently needed to give manufacturers the certainty to increase production to meet demand.
An amendment was offered by Rep. Kim Schrier (D-WA) that would have added a section to establish a program for financial and technical assistance for domestic manufacturers to increase distribution transformer production. The amendment was defeated on a party-line vote.
APPA on Sept. 13 voiced support for the bill. “A delay is urgently needed to give manufacturers the certainty to increase production to meet demand,” wrote Desmarie Waterhouse, Senior Vice President, Advocacy and Communications & General Counsel at APPA, in a Statement for the Record.
The subcommittee also passed a bill sponsored by Subcommittee Chairman Jeff Duncan (R-SC). The bill would require the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to review and comment on federal agency actions that are likely to have significant negative impacts on the reliability and adequacy of the bulk-power system.
APPA outlined its support for this bill in an Oct. 23 letter sent to Duncan and Rep. Diana DeGette, D-Colo., Ranking Member on the subcommittee.
“Public power utilities must balance their responsibilities to provide reliable and affordable electricity while also reducing GHG emissions. It is necessary and appropriate for the federal government, whose agency actions can have a significant impact on the reliability and resource adequacy of the bulk power system, must do the same,” wrote Waterhouse in the letter.
“Given the mission of FERC to assist consumers in obtaining reliable, safe, secure, and economically efficient energy services at a reasonable cost, APPA believes FERC should be given the authority to analyze and a formal role in determining the potential reliability impacts of major proposed and final federal regulations,” she said.
The subcommittee also passed a bill sponsored by Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) that would confirm that hydropower is an essential renewable energy resource and reform FERC’s licensing process to protect existing hydropower resources and encourage the development of small and next-generation projects. McMorris Rodgers is committee Chairwoman.
APPA recently submitted a statement for the record for a subcommittee hearing on the bill last month that endorses the bill.
Representative Annie Kuster (D-NH) offered an amendment, cosponsored by full committee Chairwoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA), that amends a section of the Federal Power Act related to conditions for licenses, and allow affected Indian Tribes to recommend to FERC license modifications.
The amendment was passed by voice vote by the subcommittee.
The subcommittee also passed 12 bills related to nuclear power. Broadly, the bills are intended to reduce the time required to review and license a new nuclear power plant, lower the costs to obtain a license from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) for advanced reactors, and ensure U.S. leadership in nuclear exports and supply chain issues.
Many of the bills are similar to NRC reforms included in a bipartisan Senate bill, S. 1111 the Accelerating Deployment of Versatile, Advanced Nuclear for Clean Energy (ADVANCE) Act of 2023, which passed out of the Senate Environment & Public Works Committee in May and was included in the Senate passed National Defense Authorization Act.
