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Washington, D.C. — House Energy and Commerce Committee Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) and Oversight and Acoountability Committee Chair James Comer (R-KY) sent letters to eight federal agencies today following the recent Supreme Court decision on Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo , in which the court overruled Chevron deference. Science, Space, and Technology Committee Chair Frank Lucas (R-OK) and House Agriculture Committee Chair GT Thompson (R-PA) joined Chairs Rodgers and Comer on an additional letter sent to the Environmental Protection Agency. KEY LETTER EXCERPT: “We write to call to your attention Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo, a recent Supreme Court decision that precludes courts from deferring to agency interpretations when the statutes are ambiguous. In its decision, the Court explicitly overruled Chevron U.S.A. Inc. v. Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc., 467 U.S. 837 (1984), which required deference to agency interpretations of ambiguous statutes. By allowing such deference, the Court in Chevron enabled the ‘Administrative State’ to usurp the legislative authority that the Constitution grants exclusively to Congress in Article I. The Chevron decision led to broader, more costly and more invasive agency regulation of Americans’ lives, liberty, and property.   “Perhaps no administration has gone as far as President Biden’s in issuing sweeping Executive edicts based on questionable assertions of agency authority. The Biden administration has promulgated far more major rules, imposing vast costs and paperwork burdens, than either its most recent predecessors. Many of these rules...have been based on overreaching interpretations of statutes enacted by Congress years ago, before the issues now regulated were even imagined.   “The expansive Chevron deference has undermined our system of government, creating an unaccountable Administrative State. Thankfully, the Court has now corrected this pattern, reaffirming that ‘[i]t is emphatically the province and duty of the judicial department to say what the law is.’ Given the Biden administration’s record of agency overreach, we are compelled to underscore the implications of Loper Bright and remind you of the limitations it has set on your authority.”   CLICK HERE to read the letter to the Environmental Protection Agency. CLICK HERE to read the letter to the Federal Communications Commission.  CLICK HERE to read the letter to the Consumer Product Safety Commission.  CLICK HERE to read the letter to the Federal Trade Commission.  CLICK HERE to read the letter to Department of Commerce.   CLICK HERE to read the letter to the Department of Energy.  CLICK HERE to read the letter to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.  CLICK HERE to read the letter to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.  CLICK HERE to read the letter to the National Highway Transportation and Safety Administration.

Washington D.C. — In a letter to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), House Energy and Commerce Committee Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) and Energy, Climate, and Grid Security Subcommittee Chair Jeff Duncan (R-SC) are pressing for more information on FERC’s ability to address the growth in electricity demand, particularly from the rapid growth of AI data centers. KEY LETTER EXCERPT: “After years of minimal growth, electricity demand in the United States is projected to grow nationally at a significant pace through the end of the decade. It is anticipated that much of this demand growth will come from a surge in the number of data centers and the growing uses of artificial intelligence (AI) by data centers, onshoring of industry and manufacturing, and increased electrification. Estimates show annual growth of 5 to 6 percent through the end of the decade, a tenfold increase in the growth rate from current levels. By the end of the decade, data centers, which are driving increases in electricity demand, could consume as much as 9.1 percent of all electricity in the United States. "Unlike many sources of demand that consume electricity at a lower energy density, data centers consume large quantities of power at a near constant level throughout the year. This surge in demand for reliable and dispatchable baseload generation comes at a time when the NERC has repeatedly raised concerns over the adequacy and reliability of the grid. These risks are due to a confluence of factors, including state and federal policies that have forced premature retirements of reliable generation without adequate replacement generation resources and electric infrastructure. FERC’s recent summer assessment lists data center demand growth as a driver for increased demand while acknowledging that supply shortages are possible this summer.” BACKGROUND: The Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Energy, Climate, and Grid Security held a hearing on June 4, 2024 to discuss the energy demands of emerging technologies, like Artificial Intelligence, and how to ensure that America continues to be a technological leader. Some experts project a ten-fold increase in the growth rate of new power demand, compared with the past decade. Data centers that process AI and digital transactions are a major driver of this increase in demand. Biden Administration actions, like the Clean Power Plan (CPP) 2.0, are accelerating the retirement of baseload power sources, which are essential for providing the 24/7/365 energy needed to power our technological future. E&C Republicans led a join resolution of disapproval on June 5, 2024 to halt President Biden’s CPP 2.0 which will shut down critical baseload energy generation. Chair Rodgers and Carter released a statement on April 25, 2024 blasting the EPA’s devastating power plant rules that would shut down American energy. The Chair requested the FERC Commissioners provide the following information by July 30, 2024: Explain what FERC is doing to assess the challenges of this new demand growth from data centers and industrial sectors. Explain what options FERC is considering to address this new demand growth to assure reliable, affordable delivery of power in the FERC regulated markets. What effect will demand growth have on capacity prices? Are the FERC jurisdictional wholesale markets prepared to withstand retirement projections and coinciding demand increase projections? The potential for co-locating data centers or industrial loads presents the risks of taking baseload, reliable generation off the grid at the expense of ratepayers. Is FERC monitoring the potential for merchant generators to enter into behind-the-meter agreements with data centers? What actions is FERC considering to address the incentives and impacts of any loss of load due to out-of-market financial arrangements? If state and federal policies do not adjust to preserve adequate baseload generation, how will the growing demand for reliable energy add additional costs and strain to our grid? CLICK HERE to read the full letter.

Washington D.C. — House Energy and Commerce Committee Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) and Subcommittee on Energy, Climate, and Grid Security Chair Jeff Duncan (R-SC) today sent a letter to Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) Chairman Willie Phillips and the FERC Commissioners demanding information on how FERC is preparing for the devastating impacts that will be caused by EPA’s Clean Power Plan 2.0 (CPP2.0) on the electric grid.  KEY LETTER EXCERPT: "In addition to impermissibly infringing upon state responsibilities over electric generation, the EPA’s final rule imposes unrealistic standards with unproven compliance strategies on existing coal-fired power plants and new natural gas units. Despite widespread warnings from stakeholders over the reliability catastrophe that could ensue from the rule, the EPA failed to address these concerns in the final rule and did not amend the rule to reflect the formal input of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) and North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC).”   “FERC is unique among federal regulators in having a mandate to ensure the reliability and affordability of the grid pursuant to the Federal Power Act. As Commissioners of FERC, you have the responsibility to carry out that mandate. As a result of this rule, FERC could be forced to intervene using available measures to prevent additional closures of dispatchable generators to prevent reliability and resource adequacy crises. How and when those measures are utilized could make the difference between maintaining an affordable and reliable electric grid or a future of rolling blackouts and unaffordable electric rates.”   BACKGROUND: Under the Clean Power Plan 2.0, the EPA has mandated strict, costly, and untested standards on both new and existing natural gas and remaining coal generators.  The Energy and Commerce Committee held hearings on June 6, 2023 and November 14, 2023 to discuss the harmful impact of the EPA’s Clean Power Plan 2.0 (CPP2.0) on America’s energy security and grid reliability.    On June 6, 2023, Chair Rodgers led a letter to EPA from all Energy and Commerce Republicans on the agency’s CPP2.0.  On July 31, 2023, Chair Rodgers and former Subcommittee on Environment, Manufacturing, and Critical Materials Chair Bill Johnson (R-OH) sent a letter calling on the EPA to extend the comment period for their new CPP2.0 proposal.   On November 7, 2023, Chair Rodgers, Subcommittee on Energy, Climate, and Grid Security Chair Jeff Duncan (R-SC), and former Subcommittee Chair Johnson sent a letter to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) on how new EPA regulations, including CPP2.0, would be detrimental to the U.S. electric grid. On November 14, 2023, Chair Rodgers, Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations Chair Morgan Griffith (R-VA), and former Subcommittee Chair Johnson sent a letter calling on EPA Administrator Michael Regan to withdraw the overreaching and unworkable CPP2.0 proposal. The Chairs requested Chairman Phillips provide responses to the following by July 30, 2024: 1. Please provide all communications between the Chairman, Commissioners, and FERC staff with the EPA administrator and EPA staff relating to the development of the proposed Clean Power Plan 2.0 rule. 2. Do any generators participating in the FERC-jurisdictional markets utilize carbon capture technology at a sustained capture rate of 90 percent? Do any generators participating in the FERC-jurisdictional markets use carbon dioxide pipelines to transport captured carbon dioxide? 3. Did FERC participate in the Office of Management and Budget’s Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs interagency review process to weigh in on EPA’s Clean Power Plan 2.0 rule? a. If not, please explain why FERC did not participate in this process. 4. What plans does FERC have in place to work with jurisdictional organizations and stakeholders to prevent grid disruptions stemming from the Clean Power Plan 2.0? Please provide a detailed explanation of your plans and the stakeholders with whom you are working. 5. Section 202(c) of the Federal Power Act allows FERC, when it determines that an emergency exists, to “temporarily order connections of facilities, and generation, delivery, interchange, or transmission of electricity as determined to best meet the emergency and serve the public interest.” a. Do you expect that Section 202(c) will be needed to prevent blackouts and brownouts, as a result of the Clean Power Plan 2.0? b. Do you believe that Section 202(c) is an effective tool to prevent blackouts and brownouts? If not, what specifically about the 202(c) process would need to change in order to make it effective? c. What steps must you take to make the decision to trigger emergency measures under 202(c)? Please provide a detailed explanation of any requests or work pertaining to a 202(c) order, including with other federal, state, and private parties. d. Section 61002 of the FAST Act, “Resolving Environmental and Grid Reliability Conflicts,” amended Section 202(c) to clarify that an emergency order issued by FERC will override federal, state, and local environmental laws. i. Have you discussed Section 61002 with the EPA or the Department of Energy?   ii. Please explain the substance of any such discussions.  6. A waiver under Section 202(c) allows a resource to operate for 90 days. Given that the Clean Power Plan 2.0 could create reliability and compliance issues over multiple years and have considerable impacts on the viability of the markets you regulate, is a new longer-term mechanism needed to maintain resources for reliability? Is a new longer-term mechanism needed to maintain resource adequacy?  7. Has FERC assessed the market impacts of the final rule and, if not, when will FERC do so?   a. How will this rule affect capacity and energy market prices?  b. How will these rules affect investment signals for new dispatchable resources, like natural gas? Will resources be able to recover the necessary revenues through the FERC-jurisdictional markets? 8. How does FERC propose to allow resources affected by the rule to retain necessary revenues in the market?   a. If resources affected by the EPA’s rule are unable to compete in the relevant markets, what amount of resources will abruptly retire?  b. What impact(s) will this have on resource adequacy? c. What impact(s) will this have on reliability, especially during peak conditions during summer and winter? CLICK HERE to read the full letter. CLICK HERE to read exclusive coverage from the Washington Examiner.

Washington D.C. — House Energy and Commerce Committee Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) and Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Ranking Member John Barrasso (R-WY) sent a letter to Department of Energy (DOE) Secretary Jennifer Granholm following reports that the Biden administration is preparing to further drain the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR). The letter calls on the Secretary to safeguard the SPR and stop using it to provide political cover for President Biden in an election year. KEY LETTER EXCERPT: “ Under President Biden, the SPR has reached its lowest level since 1983. The DOE has overseen the largest sale in history, amounting to a total of 290 million barrels. When President Biden took office in January 2021, the SPR contained 638 million barrels of oil. Today, the SPR currently contains 367 million barrels of oil, which represents nearly a 42 percent decline from when President Biden took office.”  […] “Under the Biden administration, the SPR has been abused for political purposes to try and bring down record high gasoline prices that are driving record high inflation that are a consequence of the administration’s radical rush to 'green' energy policies. In November of 2021, the Biden administration announced a release, in coordination with China, in an attempt to lower prices. Then in March of 2022, the president announced the release of 180 million barrels of oil from the SPR in the middle of an election year, a transparent attempt to influence the midterm elections and distract from the Biden administration’s energy policy failures.”  [...] “We urge you, in the strongest terms, to put this country’s energy security first and stop abusing the SPR for political purposes. As the Secretary of Energy, it is your responsibility to ensure that the SPR is ready to respond to true energy supply disruptions.” CLICK HERE to read the full letter. CLICK HERE to read Chair Rodgers and Ranking Member Barrasso’s letter in November 2022 detailing the damage from President Biden’s SPR drawdowns. CLICK HERE to read Chair Rodgers’s statement on the House’s passage of H.R. 21, the Strategic Production Response Act , which would help ensure the Strategic Petroleum Reserve is available during a true energy emergency and not abused for non-emergency, political purposes. 

Washington, D.C. — House Energy and Commerce Committee Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) and Energy, Climate, and Grid Security Subcommittee Chair Jeff Duncan (R-SC) sent letters to Department of Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm and International Energy Agency (IEA) Executive Director Fatih Birol regarding IEA's shift away from its core energy security mission towards radical climate policy advocacy.  BACKGROUND: The IEA’s new climate agenda and flawed projections fail to provide participating governments with accurate and impartial data to make decisions and directly influenced the administration’s decision to restrict U.S. liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports.  This agenda will have a significant impact on American LNG production, domestic energy prices, and threatens our allies.  U.S. LNG exports have spurred European countries to construct LNG import facilities in order to further wean themselves off of Russian natural gas.  Despite this, Europe continues to import a record amount of LNG from Russia, importing 40 percent more today than it did before the invasion of Ukraine.  Turning away from America’s tremendous energy potential risks U.S. energy security and the security of our allies.  KEY EXCERPTS FROM IEA LETTER: “The IEA was established in 1974 to ensure the security of oil supplies following the disruptions created by the Arab oil embargo. Congress has authorized U.S. government agencies to participate in the IEA to provide authoritative data and impartial analysis of world energy markets, to help coordinate responses to energy supply disruptions, and to strengthen the energy security of the U.S. and its allies. We are concerned that the IEA has lost focus of its energy security mission and has instead shifted attention and resources to climate policy advocacy—to the detriment of its core mission.” CLICK HERE to read the full letter to IEA Executive Director Dr. Birol.   CLICK HERE to read the full letter to Energy Secretary Granholm. 

Washington D.C. — House Energy and Commerce Committee Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) and Energy, Climate, and Grid Security Subcommittee Chair Jeff Duncan (R-SC) sent a letter to Department of Energy (DOE) Secretary Jennifer Granholm regarding the Department’s recent announcements to push for the adoption of expensive new energy codes. Rather than improve people’s lives and the environment, this latest rush-to-green policy is being implemented by the Biden administration to appease its radical environmental allies and will only increase housing prices and utility bills for millions of American. BACKGROUND: On September 19, 2023, DOE announced a $400 million program to implement new building energy codes.  On December 18, 2023, DOE announced another new $530 million program to implement new building energy codes.  The Biden administration has repeatedly advanced efforts to impose burdensome energy efficiency standards that would raise costs for Americans.  “Zero energy” building codes, which the grants may support, would force buildings to eliminate the use of fossil fuels in favor of more expensive, but less reliable electric options. KEY EXCERPTS: “In the U.S., building codes are predominately and appropriately regulated by State and local jurisdictions – not the Federal government. In recent years, activist environmental groups have begun pressuring international organizations, Federal agencies, States, and local jurisdictions to develop and enforce 'model' building energy codes that mandate expensive, one-sized-fits-all construction requirements and restrict fuel choices, even when it is not technologically feasible or cost-effective for the homeowner or tenant.  “State and local governments should not be forced to adopt international energy codes that set efficiency requirements, ban the use of natural gas, or require expensive electrification retrofits for appliances and electric vehicle charging. We are concerned that the DOE’s building codes grant programs will exacerbate the current housing affordability crisis and limit energy choices for the American people by encouraging the adoption of such one-sized-fits-all building codes that are not appropriate or cost-effective for all income levels and regions of the country.” CLICK HERE to read the full letter. 

Washington, D.C. — The House Energy and Commerce Committee is continuing its oversight of the deadly Maui fires that happened in August 2023. In a new letter to Hawaiian Electric CEO Shelee Kimura, Committee Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA), Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations Chair Morgan Griffith (R-VA), and Subcommittee on Energy, Climate, and Grid Security Chair Jeff Duncan (R-SC) have asked for clarification on testimony and documents provided to the Committee. KEY LETTER EXCERPT : “We appreciate your testimony before the Committee on Energy and Commerce at our September 28, 2023, hearing titled, 'Investigating the Role of Electric Infrastructure in the Catastrophic Maui Wildfires' and for your cooperation in supplying additional information in response to our October 13, 2023, additional questions for the hearing record (QFRs). We continue to keep the people of Maui in our thoughts as recovery efforts continue.   “As we continue our investigation, questions persist both about the events on the days the wildfires occurred (August 7 and 8, 2023) and about Hawaiian Electric Company and its subsidiaries’ (collectively, HECO) 'Wildfire Mitigation Plan' (WMP). For example, in HECO’s October 27, 2023, response to the Committee’s QFRs, you described the weather updates that HECO received on the dates of the wildfires. However, you also stated that HECO 'did not learn until after the windstorm had passed that the winds had been higher than forecast.'  “Additionally, we continue to have questions about the WMP and the timeline of its creation and development. HECO stated that it began developing the WMP in 2019 and finalized it in 2023. However, the Hawaii Public Utility Commission revealed it had not seen the document prior to the fires and only learned of its existence when HECO referenced it in HECO’s September 19, 2023, response to the Committee’s August 30, 2023, letter requesting more information about HECO’s wildfire mitigation measures.  “As fires involving electrical equipment continue to threaten lives, property, and energy reliability, the Committee has a responsibility to understand how these disasters unfold and how they can be prevented, so we can utilize this knowledge and findings in developing and overseeing the implementation of our national energy infrastructure policies.”  The Chairs have requested a response to their additional questions by April 3, 2024.  CLICK HERE to read the full letter.  TIMELINE OF INVESTIGATION:   August 30, 2023 : E&C Republican Leaders Open Investigation into Hawaiian Electric Following Deadly Maui Fires  September 14, 2023 : Chair Rodgers and Griffith Announce Oversight Hearing on Maui Fires, Invite Utilities and State Energy Officials to Appear  September 28, 2023 : Energy and Commerce Committee Oversight Subcommittee Hosts Hearing on Maui Fires  October 18, 2023 : Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee Chair Griffith Presses Maui Officials for Additional Information Following Oversight Hearing on Catastrophic Fires 

Washington D.C. — Today, Energy and Commerce Committee Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) and Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Ranking Member John Barrasso (R-WY) sent a letter to Dr. Fatih Birol, Director of the International Energy Agency (IEA), urging him to return the agency to its core mission of promoting energy security. “[I]n recent years the IEA has been undermining energy security by discouraging sufficient investment in energy supplies... Moreover, its energy modeling no longer provides policymakers with balanced assessments of energy and climate proposals. Instead, it has become an ‘energy transition’ cheerleader,” the lawmakers wrote. “It should disturb you that biased parties are exploiting the IEA’s forecasts and other products to advocate for policies that undermine energy security. Last month, your former deputy at IEA, David Turk, now Deputy Secretary at the U.S. Department of Energy, justified President Biden’s decision to “pause” the permitting process for U.S. liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports on the basis of IEA forecasts rather than the forecasts of the Department’s own Energy Information Administration (EIA). We find Deputy Secretary Turk’s decision to rely largely on IEA’s outlier forecasts—instead of EIA’s forecasts—when discussing world demand for natural gas to be deeply troubling. President Biden’s decision to stop approving LNG export permits could have devastating consequences on the future supply of U.S. LNG to developing countries who will experience decades of robust growth in natural gas demand. That is why people across the American political spectrum have condemned the President’s decision as reckless,” the lawmakers continue. CLICK HERE to read the full letter.

Washington, D.C. — House Energy and Commerce Committee Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA), Energy, Climate, and Grid Security Subcommittee Chair Jeff Duncan (R-SC), and Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee Chair Morgan Griffith (R-VA) sent a letter to Department of Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm and Department of Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg regarding growing concerns over the Biden administration’s inability to implement the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) Formula and the Charging and Fueling Infrastructure (CFI) Discretionary Grant programs, as well as the implications for American taxpayers. KEY QUOTE:   “The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) provided $5 billion for the NEVI Formula Program ($1 billion annually from FY22-FY26), and a total of $2.5 billion from FY22-FY26 for the CFI Discretionary Grant Program. Despite recent award announcements, little progress has been made in the buildout of electric vehicle (EV) infrastructure. On December 15, 2023, the Department of Energy and Department of Transportation announced the opening of America’s first EV fast charging stations funded through the NEVI Formula Program: in Ohio and New York. This announcement for merely eight charging stations comes more than two years after the passage of the IIJA.  “The problems with these programs continue to grow – delays in the delivery of chargers, concerns from States about labor contracting requirements and minimum operating standards for chargers, the fact that 22 States (44 percent) have not issued solicitations for NEVI funding, and the limited and questionable delivery of awards from the CFI Discretionary Grant Program.”  Members asked Secretaries Granholm and Buttigieg to answer the following questions by March 7, 2024: How many EV chargers does the administration expect to be constructed using NEVI Formula Program and CFI Discretionary Grant Program funds in 2024?   Because private sector deployment of EV chargers is outpacing the federal government, how is the Joint Office of Energy and Transportation updating its review of State plans to ensure federal dollars do not overbuild private sector investments?   In the Federal Highway Administration’s January 11, 2024, press release, it stated, “More than 70 percent of the CFI funding announced today will support project sites in disadvantaged communities.” Understanding EVs are extremely cost prohibitive for many, expensive to maintain, and have high insurance costs, can you please share how the Joint Office of Energy and Transportation is ensuring charging stations being awarded will receive maximized usage?   What changes is the Joint Office of Energy and Transportation making to ensure the timely review of State plans and delivery of awards?  Regarding the Joint Office of Energy and Transportation:   How many employees does the office have? What is the administrative budget for the office for each year since it has been in existence? Considering the Biden administration’s waiver of Buy America requirements for steel, iron, manufactured products, and construction materials in EV chargers, how will you ensure federal funds are not supporting Chinese or Chinese-affiliated entities?  IN THE NEWS:   “Republican leaders on the House Energy and Commerce Committee are demanding answers from two federal agencies regarding the Biden administration’s lagging electric vehicle (EV) charger subsidy program.”   […] “Beyond noting that the rollout has been sluggish to date, the lawmakers asked the agencies to provide estimates of how many chargers the administration is anticipating the program will help build by the end of the year and steps the agencies are taking to ensure that taxpayer dollars do not benefit Chinese interests in light of the administration’s ‘Buy America’ requirement waiver for certain charger components.”   CLICK HERE to read the full article from the Daily Caller.  CLICK HERE to read the full letter.