Energy Subcommittee Hearing: Scaling for Growth: Meeting Demand for Reliable, Affordable Electricity
2025-03-05
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Source: Congress.gov
Participants
Transcript
Good morning. The subcommittee on energy will now come to order and the chair recognizes himself for an opening statement. Welcome to today's hearing scaling for growth meeting the demand on reliable affordable electricity. Today we will discuss the state of our nation's bulk power system and the opportunities that lie ahead in the next generation economy. Our economy's electric grid, built over the course of well over 100 plus years, has been referred to as the most complex, sophisticated machine known to mankind. When operating correctly, the U.S. grid efficiently delivers low cost, reliable energy to communities of all sizes. Through extensive planning, coordination, and collaboration from a host of government and industry partners, this complex process seamlessly responds in real time to maintain reliability in both normal and extreme weather conditions. Yet today, historic increases in electricity demand, primarily from energy-intensive AI models and domestic manufacturing, are exposing key impediments to the ability of utilities, grid operators, and generators to keep the lights on. When the lights go out, people's lives are at stake. The entities charged with overseeing our electric grid have been warning of potential shortfalls under normal weather conditions Extreme weather or unforeseen circumstances could turn catastrophic. In 2025, the Energy Information Administration projects 12.3 gigawatts of coal capacities are set to retire. By the end of the decade, the North American Electric Reliability Corporation projects as high as 52 gigawatts of thermal generation will retire.
The stakes could not be higher. Across the world, our adversaries are seeking to undermine U.S. leadership on the world stage to write the rules on the next-generation economy. Nations like communist China, who do not share our democratic values, are seeking to develop world-leading AI models through an authoritarian military lens to export their command-and-control style of governance across the world. Yet within this emerging crisis, there's an opportunity of our nation to correct course and grow jobs, creating industries right here at home. But to get there, we need more energy. We need it fast. The Department of Energy's Berkeley lab estimates that U.S. data center growth alone is projected to double or triple by 2028. I know in my district, it's home to over 86,000 manufacturing jobs, and I'm keenly aware of this problem. And I always say that we're not just operating with needing electricity and power in my district, we need affordable power to make sure. The Clean Power Plan 2.0 is driving accelerated premature retirements of our baseload power. Permitting barriers for new natural gas pipeline infrastructure are handicapping regions of the country, such as the Northeast, that are desperate for energy. Meanwhile, subsidized intermittent energy resources and public policy decisions in favor of renewable energy are flooding interconnection queues and making baseload power from coal, natural gas, and nuclear near uneconomic. Generation developers continue experiencing ongoing supply chain constraints for distribution transformers and generation turbines. As we hear today, House Republicans are not alone in raising the alarm. Today's discussion will help illuminate the ways in which grid operators, utilities, and co-ops are all addressing these challenging dynamics to protect reliability and affordability while providing the opportunity to grow jobs and creating industries.
The witnesses for us today will provide a holistic approach of the nation's electricity system, the unique characteristics of each respective region of the country, and the challenges facing grid governing regime. PJM, the nation's largest regional transmission organization, which spans 13 states and Washington, D.C., organizes competitive wholesale markets to buy, sell electricity and monitors reliability standards across multi-state footprint in the west basin electric co-op members serve three million consumers across nine states spanning both vertically integrated states and organized markets southern company a traditional vertically integrated utility reliably serves customers across the southeast with a diverse portfolio of generating resources So I look forward to the discussion that we're going to have today with each of the respective entity and region and how they're confronting this new frontier in the demand expansion. And this subcommittee will play an integral role in laying the groundwork to unlock the necessary capital investment for a job creating industries while ensuring affordable and reliable energy for American households and small businesses. And with that, I yield back the balance of my time with three seconds. At this time, I recognize the ranking member of the subcommittee, the general lady from Florida, for five minutes for an opening statement. Well, thank you, Mr. Chairman, and welcome to our witnesses.
Mr. Chairman, we've just received some very sad news that the passing of one of our colleagues, Congressman Sylvester Turner from Houston, and if Representative Fletcher were here, She would say Houston is the energy innovation capital of the world. Sylvester Turner was the longtime mayor of Houston. He was just elected. He was with us yesterday, had brought his guests to the capital. So would you indulge us, Whit, for a moment of silence? The Secretary will pause for a moment of silence. Will gentlelady yield?
U
Unknown (SPEAKER_25)
Yield to the gentlel. Thank you. I thank the gentlelady. I served with Sylvester Turner four years in the Texas House. I hated him because when he went to the back mic and talked against my bill, he made me look like a fool, which is not hard to do.
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